Students’ Perceptions of their Dental Curriculum and Education

  • Aljazi Aldweesh Associate Professor
  • Mohammed Aldhubaiban
  • Alanoud Alqahtani
  • Iman Emad Almohammad
  • Fares S. Al-Sehaibany
  • Sahar F. Albarakati
Keywords: Dental training, Dental curriculum, Education, Satisfaction

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the satisfaction of dental students toward their dental curriculum and education at dental colleges in the central region of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Two forms of the questionnaire were established, a paper version and an electronic internet-based survey (Google online form). Paper versions were distributed to interns graduated from universities in Riyadh. The electronic versions were used to obtain responses from students at dental colleges and universities outside of Riyadh, such as Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University (PSAU) and Majmaah University, by emailing the links to the participants who were dental interns that had graduated in the 2018/2019 academic year.

Results: A total of 388 interns answered the questionnaire. Overall, 48.4% of the interns were highly satisfied with the Operative Department while regarding Orthodontic Department 16.9% were satisfied while 11.2% were highly satisfied. Regarding the non-clinical satisfaction score, the interns were mostly unsatisfied with their research skills (15.5%). Comparing the interns’ satisfaction at different institutions, there was a statistically significant difference in the clinical satisfaction score (P ≤0.01), but there was no difference in the non-clinical satisfaction score (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Dental students need a greater focus and exposure to research skills during their dental school studies. To improve dental students’ level of clinical satisfaction, it is more important for them to have early exposure to comprehensive clinical training than specialty-based clinical training.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.6.5183

How to cite this:
Aldweesh AH, Aldhubaiban M, Alqahtani A, Almohammad IE, Al-Sehaibany FS, Albarakati SF. Students’ Perceptions of their Dental Curriculum and Education. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(6):1441-1446. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.6.5183

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published
2022-07-04
How to Cite
Aldweesh, A., Aldhubaiban, M., Alqahtani, A., Almohammad, I. E., Al-Sehaibany, F. S., & Albarakati, S. F. (2022). Students’ Perceptions of their Dental Curriculum and Education. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 38(6). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.6.5183
Section
Original Articles