ADEA Article Shows Increased Usage and Rigorous Standards of Peer Review Resource MedEdPORTAL
<0> American Dental Education AssociationKellie Bove, 202-289-7201 </0>
A new article published in the latest issue of the American Dental Education Association’s (ADEA) scholarly publication, the (), provides an in-depth report on the available resources and submission statistics of , a web-based peer-reviewed venue for clinical health educators provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in partnership with ADEA.
The article, “MedEdPORTAL: A Report on Oral Health Resources for Health Professions Educators,” by Nithya S. Chickmagalur, B.D.S., M.D.S., D.M.D., and co-authors, delves into the purposes of the resource, designed in 2004 by AAMC in response to growing interests in interprofessional education and scholarly activity. In 2008, ADEA collaborated with AAMC to use the platform to publish dental curriculum resources.
A study was conducted to develop the report on the type and number of oral health materials and medical materials available in , submission decisions on the peer review process and metrics available to the publisher, including MedEdPORTAL usage statistics.
Results from the study found that MedEdPORTAL has more than 2,000 medical and dental education resources. Fifty-three categories fall under the dental discipline, with the highest number of submissions relating to physiology, followed by biochemistry/cell biology. Resources relevant to the dental community constituted 30 percent of total publications. Within a four-month timespan, more than 400 registered users representing 153 institutions from 29 countries identified with the dental health profession. Resources from the oral health collection were downloaded 1,000 times per month—nearly 25% of total site usage.
The report also shows that the MedEdPORTAL peer review process has become more rigorous over the past seven years. Publications statistics from December 2011 showed that 18% of submissions were accepted without revisions, 53% required revisions and 29% were rejected. This is a change from December 2007 publications statistics, where 45% of submissions were accepted without revisions, 29% required revisions and 26% were rejected.
“MedEdPORTAL provides a convenient, collaborative forum for sharing educational resources that can support the growing interests within health care professions. I’m excited to see what the future holds for the resource,” says Nadeem Y. Karimbux, D.M.D., M.M.Sc., Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, and Editor of the
MedEdPORTAL resources include tutorials, simulations, desktop applications, laboratory manuals and faculty development materials. The resource is currently being used by more than 10,000 health education institutions in more than 190 countries, and features more than 800 active peer-reviewers across a variety of disciplines. It provides an opportunity for students and teachers at all levels of education and career to convert their existing educational content into scholarly work. Peer-reviewed work, if accepted, is published on the MedEdPORTAL website for use by others.
Access the full report at . Visit MedEdPORTAL at and view the .
(ADEA) is the voice of dental education. Its members include all U.S. and Canadian dental schools and many allied and advanced dental education programs, corporations, faculty and students. The mission of ADEA is to lead individuals and institutions of the dental education community to address contemporary issues influencing education, research and the delivery of oral health care for the health of the public. ADEA’s activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings and communications like the esteemed , as well as the dental school admissions services AADSAS, PASS, DHCAS and CAAPID. For more information, visit .