Dental English Education for Korean Dental Students: Focused on Development of Foreign Patient-Dentist Communication Skills

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This research aims to explore the dental students’ perceptions of the need for dental English education to improve communication skills competency between foreign patients and dentists. In this study, a total of 137 Korean dental school students participated and were divided into two groups based on their direct patient care experience (Yes: 44 students and No: 93 students). The questionnaire composed of 5-point Likert scale questions, multiple-choice grid questions, and open-ended questions, was administered to investigate dental students’ responses and additional opinions on communication skills in patient- and foreign patient-dentist interaction. Findings indicate that dental students were highly aware of the need for education on communication skills between patients and dentists regardless of the patient’s nationality. Interestingly, when comparing group results based on direct patient care experience, students without direct care experience showed a high need for education in patient-dentist communication skills. Surprisingly, the quantitative results of this research were also supported by their responses and the open-ended questions of the questionnaire (qualitative results). This research suggests that communication skills education in dental education plays a key role in developing the student’s competency in communication skills between patient-foreign patient-dentists. More detailed results, discussions, and pedagogical implications of the findings are given for dental English education and further potential research directions.