Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examined the demand for the change in Korean dental hygiene curriculum. This study compared the dental hygiene curriculum of domestic and overseas university and tired to provide the basic data for the development of standard curriculum that meets the education policy changes. Methods: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 1,192 participants including dental hygiene professors, dental hygienists and students. Data were collected by mail, telephone call from the professors and research assistants, email, and direct visit from June 10 to August 10, 2013. The questionnaire consisted of 4 questions of general characteristics of the subjects and 13 questions of dental hygiene curriculum. Results: The professors answered the development of integrated dental hygiene curriculum as the first priority(48.9%) and dental hygienists(51.6%) and students(42.6%) chose the development of new dental hygiene curriculum(p<0.001). In the analysis of validity of dental hygiene curriculum, the professors gave 3.29 to the validity of evaluation for basic job performance, and the clinical dental hygienists and the students gave 3.05 and 3.26 points, respectively(p<0.001). In relation to the necessity of the change of the dental hygiene curriculums, the professors gave 4.17 points which implied that curriculum change is the most important and necessary thing to do. The clinical dental hygienists and the students gave 3.90 and 3.47 points, respectively(p<0.001). Conclusions: The above-mentioned findings suggest that the revision of the current Korean dental hygiene curriculums is required. Therefore organizations related to dental hygiene including professor association and Korean Dental Hygienists Association should carefully rebuild the curriculum to improve the competency of dental hygienists. They should take the initiative in the development of a standardized curriculum.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.