Abstract
Dental students may be exposed to patients' sexual behavior. We developed a theater‐forum session whose aims were to identify when the patient's behavior crosses the line, to collectively develop cover strategies, and to present the reporting system. The strategies pointed out by the group were to ask a pair to be present, set limits on personal life, share discomfort to the patient and report the situation to the staff. Theater‐forum is a powerful tool for this learning process
Keywords: dental education, seductive patient, sexual harassment, theatre‐forum
1. PROBLEM
Dental students may be exposed to patients’ sexual behavior (verbal or physical), indeed sexual harassment. 1 It can lead to discomfort, fear, and mental imbalance and can create an intimidating, unsuitable learning environment. 2 Dentistry practice inherently involves working closely with patients physically and emotionally and it might be challenging for the inexperienced student to set boundaries for the dentist‐patient relationship 3 : Is the patient seductive or simply friendly? Do I perceive a sexual or amorous hint? How should I react?
Students need to be trained with appropriate teaching methods, in order to: 1‐ identify the signs of a patient's sexual behavior; 2‐ adopt an adequate professional attitude towards such patient; 3‐ report the situation to a senior member of the staff. 1 , 4
2. SOLUTION
We developed a theater‐forum session whose aims were to identify when the patient's behavior crosses the line, to collectively develop cover strategies, and to present the reporting system.
Theater‐forum, known as Boal's theater 5 is an interactive exercise in two steps: first, the audience watches a scene played by actors; secondly, elements of the scene are discussed and the audience suggests alternative solutions and testing them on stage, by replaying the scene (on a voluntary basis). The scenario was written based on our experience and that of our students, as well as on literature 1 : at the end of a cleaning session, a male patient gradually becomes seductive and intrusive, including flattering remarks, requests for connection via social networks, hand contact, male gaze, invitation to go out. The female dental student is embarrassed and overwhelmed by the situation and cannot put an end to it.
After a collective analysis of the scene, the group comes up with answers and a volunteer student takes on the role of acting out the same scene, trying out strategies to deal with the situation.
3. RESULTS
Eight groups of 25 students took part in the course and 144 students (72%) completed a survey at the end of the session; 72.7% of them were female, mainly under the age of 25. For the majority (74.8%), this was the first time this topic had been addressed in their formation and 91.6% found it appropriate in the dental curriculum, even though they declared not to have been concerned during their clinical rotations (66.7%). They found the forum‐theater a proper educational tool for these situations (83.2% strongly agree) and appreciated the authenticity of the scene (69.69% strongly agree).
Numerous strategies to face the patient's misconduct were identified by the groups and their tutors as well as: 1‐ do not stay isolated (open the door, ask the pair to be present, ask for a male partner), 2‐ set limits on personal life (do not share phone number or social networks with patients), 3‐ express discomfort in the relationship (non‐violent communication). At the end, reporting procedures were described to the students.
It seems essential to provide training before dental students begin their clinical practice. Reporting procedures on patient's misconduct should be established and disseminated by hospitals and universities. In the future, we plan to offer different scenarios, including LGBT+ sexual misconduct. In addition, the situation of a dentist having a romantic relationship with a patient should be discussed from an ethical point of view.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by Agence Régionale de Santé Île‐de‐France Grant Number: C2022DOSRH050.
Germa A, Vital S, Gosset M. Managing the sexualization of the dentist‐patient relationship by the patient: Innovative teaching through forum‐theatre. J Dent Educ. 2024;88(Suppl. 3):1898–1899. 10.1002/jdd.13373
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