Dental Students Attitude Regarding The Clinical Education In Dental Medicine

Abstract

The quality of education can be assessed to the highest degree through the students’ perceptions regarding a aspect because they are the target group for educational programs Clinical education is an active process by which the students use in practice the theoretical notions that they have learned helped by the clinical teacher. The aim of this study was to evaluate students’ attitude regarding clinical education in faculty of Dental Medicine. The study was conducted means of an anonymous questionnaire among fifth- and sixthyear dental students at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Ovidius University of Constanta. The results showed that the differences between the male and female students’ attitudes about clinical education were not significant and dental students have positive attitude regarding clinical education in the Faculty of Dental Medicine. In this study, evaluating the students’ perspectives towards clinical education, we have identified a number of strengths that enhanced the students’ clinical experience. Also, some weaknesses were identified and give the opportunity of improvement. Our study gives us the occasion to adjust and improve the education quality so that the perceptions of the greater number of students in future years will demonstrate a more positive experience. Also, for increasing vocational aspect and for improving the quality of the students' practical abilities, it is recommended to create confidence in students for treatment of patients during dental education. Further studies can be helpful in finding the educational problems and proper solutions.

Keywords: Clinical trainingdental studentseducational qualityattitude

1.Introduction

Acquirement and development of clinical skills for dental students are the necessity for effective

clinical practice in their future career. Students should become familiar with the clinical skills while a

suitable environment and conditions should be provided by the dental faculty for their training. The

learning and developing of required qualifications in performing clinical skills entails spending time,

patience and practice in an appropriate context. Clinical education is an active process by which the

students use in practice the theoretical notions that they have learned, and consists of: preparing students

for coordinating basic scientific information and fulfilling skills, accompanied by diagnosing, curing, and

caring patients, and acquiring different professional skills.

Learning process is affected by several variables such as the student himself, academic staff,

interpersonal relations, attitudes, learning atmosphere, facilities, equipment and material structure of the

faculty. These factors must be evaluated to make sure that the clinical environment is helpful and

conducive to clinical learning.

The training quality at any faculty can best be analyzed by considering the students’ perceptions

(Henzi, Davis, Jasinevicius, Hendricson, Cintron & Isaacs, 2005). Students can provide an important

feedback, which can be beneficial to review the curriculum and improve the overall standard of teaching,

as well as the patient treatment (Oliver, et al. 2008). Unfortunately, in many situations the students’

opinions often fail to be noticed, especially when considering the future planning of the program (Henzi,

et al., 2005; Oliver, et al. 2008). Through evaluation of the students’ attitude towards clinical education,

the decisional factors can prioritize their educational needs and consequently improve the quality of

clinical education programs. With evaluation of student’s point of view towards clinical education the

faculty leadership can prioritize their training needs and promote attractive educational programs. Also,

tutors should have certain characteristics to motivate students on the right direction of clinical education

(Mokhtari, Foroozanfar, & Farazi, 2012).

Dentistry is a comprehensive program that requires a lot of efforts, encouragement, and clinical

exposure. There are a lot of factors that play a role during the mental development of dental student, and

the most important of them is stress. Few of the possible stress factors could be competition, frequent

examinations, comparisons between students, teacher - student relationships, patient - student

relationships, clinical application of theoretical knowledge. These factors can significantly affect the

confidence of the student and influence the way students perceive and experience their education stage.

(Divaris, et al., 2008; Lanning, Wetzel, Baines, & Byrne, 2012). The importance of their vocational

interests and personality traits in the profession of dentist cannot be challenged because satisfaction of the

doctor's professional derived from performing a work that fits within vocational its staff and personality

structure can facilitate or alter this performance (Raftu, 2016a).

The aim of all dental students is to succeed in their career. Since dentistry is a mainly clinical

specialty in which receiving adequate skills and training are highly important for the graduates’

performance in society and in labor market.This means successfully completing their studies, receiving

their degree, and being able to insert themselves into the labor market (Raftu, 2016b).

Because the educational system, equipment and performance of teachers are different in dental

faculties, so we cannot generalize the results of a study to other dental faculties. Therefore, surveying the

students’ attitude about the quality of clinical education in different dentistry faculties can surely improve

the educational programs and clinical training quality.

2.Purpose of the Study

The aim of the present study was to evaluate dental students’ attitude regarding clinical education

in faculty of Dental Medicine. In a six-year dental study program, at Faculty of Dental Medicine, Ovidius

University of Constanta, students must be able to combine all the theoretical learning abilities with the

patient management skills to best manage their patients and provide the required treatments not only to

provide comprehensive patient treatment but also to achieve competencies in all the studied disciplines in

order to graduate.

3.Methods

The study was conducted in the academic year 2015-2016 by means of an anonymous

questionnaire among fifth- and sixth-year dental students (107 persons) at the Faculty of Dental

Medicine, Ovidius University of Constanta. The students did not receive incentives to participate in the

study and they were under no obligation to complete the questionnaire.

All of the students received verbal information regarding the study from the research group before

deciding whether to participate. It was explained to them that there was no right or wrong answer for the

questions. The study was anonymous and all information would be available only for the group analysis.

The students had the right to refuse participation or to quit at any moment. Verbal consent was obtained

from all participants.

In this study, a custom-designed questionnaire was used to evaluate the student perspectives of the

clinic education along with the following SWOT components – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for

improvement and perceived threats.

The questionnaire consisted of twenty-seven questions, with three possibilities of response

measuring the level of agreement (1 – yes, 2 – no, 3 – I don’t know), including the opportunity to write in

comments for each question where appropriate. Approximately half of the questions were designed in the

positive and half in the negative manner and the other questions asked were about improvements or

changes to the program, the clarity of the questions and the demographic variables.

To obtain the maximum response rate and minimize disruption to the study, the questionnaires

were distributed following a routine lecture period. The researchers collected the completed

questionnaires immediately after their completion.

To analyses the students’ responses, we selected a standardized evaluation rubric, the SWOT

standard matrix. The components of a SWOT analysis are strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and

threats. This concept can be applied in dental education and has been effectively utilized in dental

education research (Lanning, et al., 2012).

4.Results

4.1.Students’ characteristics

From the total number of 107 fifth- and sixth-year students, 88 (82.24%) completed the

questionnaire. The number of students per year of study was 40 for the fifth- and 48 for the sixth-year, so

majority of participants were sixth year students. As it is indicated in table 1, the respondents were mainly

female (77.27%, n=68) and the students age ranged between 26 and 30 years old (year of birth between

1986 and 1990).

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4.2.The student Responses to the Questionnaire

The students’ responses to the questions revealed no significant difference between the male and

female students’ attitudes about clinical education in different departments. Moreover, the student’s

grades did not hold significantly different attitudes towards clinical education.

The students’ responses to the questions are presented in the tables below, divided into categories,

according to the components of the SWOT analysis.

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By the mean of the quantitative analysis of the students’ responses, a number of strengths of the

clinical education in dental medicine were identified. Approximatively seventy-six percentage of the

students (n = 67, 76.13%) felt that the faculty develop their clinical experience. Building of self-

confidence, which is an important aspect in clinical practice, registered a slight decrease, 40 (45.45%) of

respondents declaring positively. The majority (n = 48; 54.54%) felt that the clinical learning makes them

familiar with comprehensive patient care. When students were asked to write in comments for this

question, a student declared that it was a good opportunity to have skilled practitioners to discuss each

particular case and the most appropriate treatment options, while another said that it was helping

especially when faced difficulties with the patient management. The opportunity to discuss cases or

treatment plans in a non-threatening environment was a very favorable result by 71 (88.68%) of the

respondents. Plenty of students related that discussions about treatment with tutors that are dentists

assigned to supervise the students in the clinical practice, in front of the patient can be intimidating. In

other studies, results showed that ‘the establishment of a non-threatening environment and respectful

attitude encourages students to risk failure’, which is a critical element in clinical learning (Wallace, &

Infante, D.I. (2008). Other strengths included mentors bringing much experience to guide them (n = 55;

62.5%), making students more trustful about achieving their clinical competencies (n = 57; 64.77%) and

being a good role model for the student (n = 66; 75.00%) (Table 2).The American Dental Education

Association (ADEA) Statement on Professionalism in Dental Education identified and developed the six

values-based statements defining professionalism in dental education professionalism. Among these six

values they identified fairness, integrity and respect as essential values for dentists (Buchanan, et al.,

2012). Eighty-five participants (96.59%)reported that they were honest and transparent with their tutors.

Although most students reported that they were honest, other students could observe dishonesty amongst

their colleagues.

The participants to this study identified several weaknesses in the current state of clinical

education at the Faculty of Dental Medicine. About sixty percent (n = 53; 60.22%) of the respondents felt

that the time allotted to work with tutors was not sufficient for their necessities, and about forty-seven

percent (n = 41; 46.59%) felt that they could not ask for advice from the tutor exactly in the moment

when needed. Most of the respondents (n = 49; 55.68%) pointed out that the student–tutor ratio was too

high (Table 3). Lack of uniformity of the tutors was identified by many of the participants as a critical

weakness. Everyone provided different information, particularly when it came to requirements.

When answer the questions under the category of opportunities, almost eighty-seven percent of the

respondents (n = 76; 86.36%) identified with the statement that the face to face approach enabled them to

speak openly and ask important questions. Some students commented positively about the clinical

education saying that it is obvious that the tutor’s primary role is to aid and encourage the students and

not to judge them: sixty-six percent saying that (n = 58; 66.00%) the tutor could follow the cases allowing

for greater consistency in treatments and 35 students (39.77%) considered that with their tutor, the cases

have been performed and completed more efficiently (Table 4).

As we imagine in this questionnaire a perceived threat, would have been that faculty would

transfer a student patient to another student who has had less experience with the required treatments. The

results indicated that only 23 students (26.13%) felt this to be an important threat (Table 5).

Students as center of dental education can be a valuable indicator in providing feedback and

suggestions for revision of curriculum and improve their learning environment. Since faculties of medical

sciences teach clinical skills that have impact on the health of the whole society, assessing the status of

clinical education in these universities is of maximum importance. From the results of this study is

evident that better communication is required between faculty members and students about their desires

regarding the clinical aspect of the learning process, to ensure their future success and a greater alignment

with comprehensive patient care.

5.Conclusions

The results of this study showed that the students from the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Ovidius

University of Constanta have positive attitude regarding clinical education in this faculty.In this study,

regarding the students’ attitude regarding clinical education, we have identified several strengths that

enhanced the students’ clinical experience. Also, some weaknesses were identified and give the

opportunity of improvement. Our study gives us the occasion to adjust and improve the education quality

so that the perceptions of the greater number of students in future years will demonstrate a more positive

experience.Also, for increasing the vocational aspect and for improving the quality of the students'

practical abilities, it is recommended to create confidence in students for treatment of patients during

dental education. Further studies can be helpful in finding the educational problems and proper solutions.

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