Rate My Professor Keri Carruthers

Keri Carruthers is a Senior Professional Practice Fellow in the Discipline of Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Otago. She holds a Certificate in Dental Therapy from Wellington and a Master of Oral Health from the University of Otago, completed in 2020. Previously listed as a Professional Practice Fellow in the Department of Oral Sciences, she was promoted to her current senior role. Carruthers serves as course co-ordinator for DEOH303 Advanced Oral Health Therapy 2 in the Bachelor of Oral Health programme, alongside Associate Professor Susan Moffat. She participated in the Dental Council of New Zealand's 2024 accreditation visit for the University of Otago's undergraduate programmes, including the Faculty of Dentistry offerings. During sessions on August 7 and 8, 2024, she discussed course content, programme strengths and issues, student clinical experiences, supervision, clinical facilities, assessments, resources, and cultural safety in clinics. She also contributed to clinical record reviews for Bachelor of Oral Health students, examining patient records and academic and clinical management tools.

Carruthers' Master of Oral Health thesis, "Dental and Oral Health Therapists' Perceptions of Continuity of Patient Care," was supervised by Lee Adam and Susan Moffat. This research was published in 2022 in the New Zealand Dental Journal (volume 118, issue 3, pages 97-103) under the title "Dental and oral health therapists' perceptions of continuity of patient care," with co-authors Lee A. Adam and Susan M. Moffat. The study conducted focus groups with 14 therapists from the Otago/Southland region, employing a general inductive approach to analyze data. Four themes emerged: autonomy, time management, patient and parent rapport, and job satisfaction. Public sector therapists reported less continuity of patient care and autonomy compared to those in private practice, impacting job satisfaction, time management, and clinical learning. The publication is affiliated with the Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago.