Open Wide: PTZOptics Helps UNC Dental School Provide Virtual Shadowing
Students Tune in from Around the World to See if a Dental Career Will Be Right for Them
For many, a visit to the dentist is the last thing they want to experience, either in person or as an observer.
But for high school and undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in dentistry, the opportunity to watch a dental procedure in progress is a unique chance to witness both its ordinary and unusual elements.
And it was something that Lamont Lowery, assistant dean of the Adams School of Dentistry at the University of North Carolina, had long wanted to offer virtually, giving both local students and those from around the world a closer look at how modern dentistry is performed.
The Challenge
When Lowery arrived at UNC from his previous posting, he mentioned the idea of virtual shadowing to Chris Pope, creative media specialist at the Adams School. It just so happened that Pope had, in 2019, invested in a PTZOptics camera system with the original intent of using it to capture roundtable discussions about research regarding opioid use in dentistry.
“[The school] had gotten me some grant funding to do these videos and they basically said buy what you need and then you can use them for whatever else you want to use them for,” Pope said. In researching multi-camera systems, he came across what ended up being a valuable resource.
“One of the tools I found very helpful was all the [PTZOptics] material on YouTube. And that really pointed me in that direction. And then when I was looking at the price point and feature set, I built out from there. The PTZOptics cameras really checked all those boxes that we were looking for.”
However, the 2020 Covid 19 pandemic struck before the system had been set up, and it sat unused until Lowery’s arrival. As soon as the two began discussing the potential for virtual shadowing of dental procedures, “I said, ‘You know, I actually have some of the equipment that might be useful for that,’” Pope said.
The Solution
“The idea was to give prospective students a realistic experience, as close as possible to actually physically being in the room, but even better,” said Lowery. “And that’s what I think we were able to accomplish – even better.”
The core idea was to use multiple cameras with pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities but that didn’t require individual operators. “It’s still a real dental visit, and we didn’t want to intrude upon that. So, being able to mount cameras on the ceiling in different places and Chris being able to control them from a separate room worked great for us,” Lowery said.
The virtual shadowing setup consists of two PTZOptics NDI®
G2 cameras, a Sony camcorder for locked coverage shots, and a RealWear Nav520 wearable camera for a unique, “practitioner’s eye view” perspective. Pope uses a PT-Joy-G3 PTZ control and VMix live video streaming software to switch and stream to Zoom.
Though the Nav520 was designed primarily for industrial applications, Lowery said the device has worked best for their purposes when being worn by the dental assistant, who can narrate along with what their camera is seeing.
The system now runs off NDI®
connections, which allows for just a single cord connected to each camera, Pope said. “That cuts down on setup time, which now runs about two hours,” he said.
Currently, there’s no dedicated studio space for producing the virtual shadowing sessions, so each shoot is set up individually. There are also a variety of logistical hurdles to jump with each session, including scheduling a practitioner and patient and securing a space for the procedure, Lowery said. With planning and setup, the lead time for each shadowing session runs about two months.
The Results
Since launching the virtual shadowing sessions, Lowery said the response has been overwhelmingly positive from both faculty and students.
When it comes to faculty, “We have to be very selective in who we ask and what procedures we show. But we have some people that eat it up,” Lowery said. One faculty member, a prosthetist, served as the patient in a recent procedure and was so impressed that she immediately began brainstorming ways to get additional funding for it.
“And I’m like, okay, let’s go. Let’s do that,” Lowery said. “So, it’s been very positive and it’s different for them. And I think you have to show and continue to show the value that it has, and then I think skeptics will open up.”
Meanwhile, shadowing session attendance and school admissions data have begun positively reflecting students’ experiences with the program.
“We’re now seeing matriculation from students that were exposed to the school through virtual shadowing,” as well as students mentioning their shadowing experience in their applications, Lowery said.
In addition, based on data the school has collected since the program began, Lowery estimates that in countries as diverse as Japan, Mexico, and Egypt, thousands of students have been able to watch procedures virtually. And even domestically, he said the opportunity to reach students in rural or underserved areas who have limited access to both dental care and career and education opportunities is equally as important.
“Because when you talk about people in rural areas, we’re talking about access. Access to care is one thing, but access to opportunities is a different thing,” he said. “I’m the person that, if we have technology, let’s utilize it and let’s leverage it.”
