Challenges of clinical dental education during pandemic: a mixed method approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences

2 Community Oral Health Department, Dental School, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences School of Paramedical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its high prevalence greatly affected education, especially majors such as dentistry, which require patient encounters. The objective of the current study was to investigate dental students› and professors› perspectives on the effects of the pandemic on clinical dental education.
Methods: This mixed-methods study had two phases: (1) in the qualitative phase, interviews were conducted with the heads of each clinical department and the students’ representatives. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and categorized to extract the main issues; (2) A self-administered questionnaire was designed based on the extracted themes. All the 4th–6th year dental students in the 2021–2022 academic year were invited to participate. Data were analyzed using SPSS.
Results: Twelve main issues were extracted from the interviews, including a reduced number of patients, reduced self-esteem concerning clinical care among students, the need for isolated facilities, etc. In the quantitative phase, 76% of the students participated in this study, 86% of whom believed that the quality of clinical education during the pandemic had decreased. The lack of patients and, as a result, the decrease in the number of determined requirements were listed as the most important factors in this reduction. The students mostly preferred to have extra time to compensate for their lack of experience.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 outbreak has negatively affected dental education. Despite the advances in e-learning, dental education cannot easily convert from patient-based education to theoretical or even virtual education. Providing proper clinical education always remains critical.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Oral Health and Oral Epidemiology
Volume 13, Issue 4
December 2024
Pages 162-169

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History

  • Receive Date: 14 February 2024
  • Revise Date: 07 November 2024
  • Accept Date: 09 November 2024

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