1 Introduction

The spread of COVID-19 viruses has resulted in the most dramatic changes for all of us. During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical and dental schools, in particular, will require adaptation of clinical training programs. A qualitative investigation of medical students’ experiences with telehealth throughout COVID-19 revealed a clear transformation in students now recognizing the importance of telemedicine and expressing desire for their clinical supervisors or hospital teams to be able to practice telemedicine services proficiently [1]. A cross-sectional, mixed-method survey of fourth-year medical students in the United States of America revealed that the pandemic had the greatest impact on surgery, internal medicine, and obstetrics. Telemedicine has the potential to address some of the issues confronting medical education today [2]. Because all medical schools already had learning management systems and key electronic resources integrated into their curricula, a quick transition to online delivery should be possible. Online learning has the potential to improve pre-clinical medical education by allowing integration and collaboration between classes of medical students [3]. Clinical dental education has faced unique challenges when compared to other medical specialties. Dental students, as opposed to medical students, are thought to be the most vulnerable because of the nature of their clinical training, which includes working in patients’ oral cavities with aerosol-generating equipment. A hybrid learning model that combines lectures (theoretical component) delivered via e-learning platforms, in-person learning for preclinical programs, and practical (clinical) courses will most likely be a cornerstone of future dental education [4]. Almost all dental lectures are now delivered via online courses in order to maintain protective social distance. Many meetings have also been held online using tools like Canvas, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Panopto, Skype, and ZOOM [5]. Furthermore, a study in Poland demonstrated the efficacy of blended learning in conservative dentistry, revealing that dental student respondents were pleased with the blended-learning model and would like to keep using it even after the pandemic is over [6].

In line with a rapidly changing healthcare system, training in innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) has become increasingly important in U.S. medical education. Educational themes such as innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, technology, healthcare systems, business of medicine, and enhanced adaptability have been presented, as well as teaching method themes (active learning and interdisciplinary teaching) [7]. In US public health schools, the public health entrepreneurship (PHE) program has been well-received by the next generation of public health professionals and is intended to stimulate public health innovation [8]. In terms of pharmaceutical education, entrepreneurship was most frequently associated with the development of new opportunities for pharmacists through innovation, divergent thinking, and creativity. Risk-taking and creativity/innovation were frequently identified as knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) [9]. In a competitive business environment, students in U.S. dental schools without a DDS/DMD-MBA program reported that their school inadequately prepared them for the dentistry business in accordance with their own dental practice planning [10]. According to a 15-year research initiative from Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul University, student research projects are an important part of dental education. Students who are members of a voluntary Student Research Club (SRC) presented numerous projects and reported positive perceptions of improved academic and research skills, as well as statistically significant higher academic success, postgraduate acceptance rates, and potential academic career paths for SRC members [11]. As a result, the need for entrepreneurial knowledge as well as research skills has become critical in multi-disciplinary healthcare sectors.

As stated previously, the goal of this article is to create a curriculum and share teaching experience in innovation and entrepreneurship for dental students during the pandemic, in order to create future dentists for the new era.

2 Materials and methods

The technique of “design thinking” was used extensively in this article. The main characteristics of design thinking for medical and dental educators include thinking broadly about a problem, also known as “creativity,” and then putting the new ideas into action, also known as “innovation”. Multi-theories have presented a design thinking model. Tim Brown’s, the Design Council’s, and Stanford University’s design thinking models are the three most widely used. Tim Brown’s design thinking model has three stages: “inspiration,” “ideation,” and “implementation,” whereas the design thinking model developed by the Design Council in the United Kingdom has four stages: “discover,” “define,” “develop,” and “implement”. The design thinking model developed by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute for Design has been widely adopted, particularly in school and university academic contexts. The model is divided into five stages: “empathize,” ‘define,” “ideate,” “prototype,” and “test” [12]. In comparison to traditional problem-solving methods in healthcare and other public health-related fields, design thinking results in more successful and long-term interventions [13]. Design thinking could provide an option works and a proactive attitude in radiology education, assisting in the development of creative solutions among medical students, residents, staff, and faculty [14]. As a result, the author created a design thinking process for his classes, which is depicted in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
figure 1

The design thinking model used in dental students’ classes

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Lessons in innovation and entrepreneurship were combined in the subject “2201521—Innovation in Dentistry” for 6th-year dental students, which is the final year course of the dental curriculum at Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand. Reacting to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this course has used blended learning (e.g. flipped classroom, online learning, project-based learning, face-to-face communication) from the academic year 2020 to the present, depending on the national COVID-19 situation at the time. Sixth year dental students from the academic years 2020 and 2021 took part, with 26 and 29 students, respectively. To complete their class work, all students from each class were divided into five groups. The author then assigned each group to develop an innovative research proposal that was related to clinical dental problems encountered during the pandemic. They then received feedback from the author as well as their colleagues on two separate occasions to see how their ideas developed and how they were received. In addition, each presentation also included;

  • A formal title (in Thai and English)

  • Identification of problems

  • Review of literature

  • Objectives

  • The nature of research and innovation

  • Technology-related knowledge

  • A multidisciplinary team

  • Research methodology

  • Ethical considerations

  • Budgets

  • Sources of funding

  • Marketing strategies

  • Type of intellectual property

  • References

  • Appendix (with product drawing)

The following are the study materials that the author taught in a 6-h course;

2.1 Introduction to medical and dental innovations

This session began with an overview of dental innovation, followed by a discussion of the definition and types of innovation. Later, we talked about the three main steps of the innovation process (idea, development, and commercialization) as well as the evolution of the innovation model from the 1950s to the trend of the innovation model after the twenty-first century (e.g. technology push model, market pull model, coupling model, open innovation model, innovation 4.0 model) [15]. This forum also included a topic analyzing the needs, wants, and expectations of key stakeholders in the healthcare innovation process, such as physicians and other caregivers, patients, organizations, innovator companies, and regulatory agencies [16]. The trends of the smart future were then discussed, including smart people, smart leadership, smart governments, smart industries, smart healthcare and education systems, and smart homes and automobiles.

As part of the entrepreneurial learning, the marketing mix model (product, price, place, and promotion – 4Ps), which is considered to be one of the greatest significant parts of the marketing process to create value and customer satisfaction, was discussed as part of the business and management theory [17]. The SWOT Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) was then displayed, which is a business strategy tool used to evaluate how an organization compares to its competitors [18]. The question for all student groups was, “What should you do if your organization, which is a 6th-year dental students’ team, wants to buy an invention in the dentistry industries?”.

2.2 Statistics for innovation

Some critical aspects of statistics for medical innovation were critically examined, including statistical methodology, population and sample, type of sampling, data presentation, data analysis, data interpretation, descriptive and inferential statistics, level of measurement, measures of central tendency, data distribution, and statistical tests.

2.3 Engineering and dental innovation

The principles of medical innovation drawing (e.g., sketch, geometric drawing, perspective drawing, isometric drawing, oblique drawing, software-aided design) were then elucidated, as well as the branch of engineering that can aid in the creation of dental innovation, cost of production, and contractor evaluation.

2.4 Innovative dental research

The definition of research, the research code of conduct, primary research (e.g., basic medical research, clinical research, epidemiological research), secondary research (e.g., systematic review, meta-analysis), human research ethics [19], and the development of innovative research proposals (e.g., introduction, review of literature, objectives, research design and methods, ethical considerations, budget, appendices and citations) were all discussed [20].

2.5 Manuscript for publication

To publicize an innovative research article, some critical topics involving manuscript preparation (e.g., human and animal rights, plagiarism, authorship, conflicts of interest, funding source, target journal, peer review) as well as manuscript writing process (e.g., title, abstract, keywords, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussions, conclusions, acknowledgement, references) were also addressed.

2.6 Intellectual property in the work of innovation

Finally, we discussed intellectual property in Thai commercial laws, including the meaning of things and property, the history of international intellectual property, the history of national intellectual property, and the different types of intellectual property (e.g., patent, petty patent, industrial designs, trademarks, copyrights, geographical indications, trade secrets, layout-design of integrated circuits) [21].

3 Results

Sixth-year dental students developed innovative research proposals in front of a class and presented it as a concept in the design thinking model. The outcome of the design thinking process is shown in Table 1, following a 6-h team-based discussion that included a 2-time presentation. Figure 2 depicts samples of drawing products produced as a result of team-based discussions.

Table 1 The results of sixth-year dental students’ ideation and creativity in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic
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Fig. 2
figure 2

Drawings of COVID-19 prevention products in dentistry created by dental students

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4 Discussion

A qualitative review found that many activities, such as lectures, group discussions, and workshops, were used to support creativity in health professions education. Students’ outcomes included self-efficacy, attitudes, and solutions to a specific issue. Despite the obvious benefits of design thinking, many questions for education in health professions persist. Those could be the result of there being no objective outcome provided [22]. Likewise for this project, while all groups of dental students were able to gain an understanding of innovation, entrepreneurship, and design thinking, which could help them become excellent dentists with entrepreneurial visions, the true benefits of design thinking knowledge applying to their career path are still being debated. In this paper, a modernized pedagogical approach is especially important in clinical subjects because it teaches students problem-solving skills needed in real-world patient care circumstances. Though the significance of this article varies depending on the reader, it is noteworthy for its potential to stimulate creative teaching methods and adaptability in dental education.

Another fascinating aspect of this course is that it is a novel educational process that has been implemented at our dental school. In general, medical or dental teachers create content, and students’ only responsibility is to gain knowledge and skills. We have never understood the reasons or viewpoints of others. The reflection stage has the potential to break down the mental barrier that exists between presenters, their colleagues, and their teachers. Furthermore, the participating teacher received significant knowledge and attitudes from his students. We did not argue about whether something is right or wrong, but determined that the best way to build a product is the critical issue.

Another limitation in this article is the management of online teaching. We did not always know what students were feeling or how they were expressing themselves. However, in the face of a pandemic, this situation posed a challenge to all educational in society. We also had a lack of time and budgetary constraints due to the scope of the curriculum in this subject. As a result, we could not expect all projects to reach the final stage of Stanford University’s design thinking model. Despite the fact that this project does not introduce entirely new concepts, it does provide a valuable application of established educational theories to the specific challenges confronting dental education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The emphasis on incorporating innovation, entrepreneurship, and design thinking into the curriculum offers a new perspective on how dental education can adapt and remain relevant in a dynamic healthcare landscape. Furthermore, this project emphasizes the practical application of these concepts, which can help to improve students’ skill and mindset for dealing with real-world clinical challenges.

To overcome those issues, students should be able to share their experiences both online and onsite learning for each class after the spread of COVID-19 improves. In addition, an instructor should provide a long period of time, perhaps at least two semesters, as well as adequate budgets to develop real products. In the future, this learning method should be combined with any subjects related to clinical aspects of dentistry that students may use in their actual practice, and the learning efficiency should be evaluated. The author hopes to receive necessary material and financial assistance when the curriculum is revised.

5 Conclusions

According to the study’s goal, this project reveals the way of dental curricular creation and sharing teaching experience in innovation and entrepreneurship for dental students during the pandemic. The four steps of design thinking model including, brainstorming, classroom presentation, reflection, and revision, were used in dental students’ classes, along with blended learning and a lesson course in innovation and entrepreneurship. During the pandemic, this article reported on an alternative way to support dental students’ visions of innovation, entrepreneurship, and design thinking, which were developed from their practices and clinical dental problems. As a concept in the design thinking model, each group of sixth-year dental students created and presented an innovative research proposal in front of their class as an experience-based and entrepreneurial concept. They were able to interpret their concept and creativity. Not only is knowledge and attitudes received by learners, but there is also a similar return to their lecturer. Even though this article does not adhere to traditional research methodology, it contributes by highlighting an innovative teaching approach that may inspire educators to explore similar strategies in their own contexts. A comparison of traditional study, online teaching, and blended learning in innovation-related topics among dental students is recommended for future research. This novel method’s application to multidisciplinary student teams as well as clinical subjects is also a challenge.