E-professionalism’s impact on Dental Professionalism: A rapid scoping review

Background
Dental regulators and educational institutions are increasingly concerned about the influence of digital platforms used by the profession for social, business, digital interaction with the public/patients and its impact on the professionalism in practice now and going forward. However, academic knowledge and research within dentistry are relevant to e-professionalism at a level of engagement and approach in delivering guidance to students through the current dental curriculum. The question therefore asked was what breadth of academic material, research, debate and discourse is available to inform our understanding, guidance and teaching on this ever-evolving topic.

Aim
To map how e-professionalism has developed in academic dental literature as a topic within the study of professionalism in practice.

Method
A rapid scoping review was conducted to identify published research that describes and tests the topic of professionalism from 2016 to 2023. Studies were synthesised narratively using thematic analysis to inform the understanding of what has been already researched in the field.

Results
Thirteen articles were included in the review. After undertaking a thematic analysis, five themes were constructed. These included: curriculum, opportunities and safe professional use, reflections, personal and professional identity issues, and students as co-creators.

Conclusions
Within dental research there is consensus that e-professionalism could present a tangible threat to the identity of dental professionals their clinical practice and interaction with patients/public however, less is known about what educational strategies are most effective when teaching e-professionalism.