Evaluation of dental intern's satisfaction and self-competence in treating emergency cases during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to identify the level of satisfaction and confidence of dental intern students in emergency care emergency room (ER) during COVID-19 Pandemic in order to determine factors that influence their satisfaction such as patient's age, gender, and ethnicity. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted at Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah-Taibah University Dental-College and Hospital. The overall sample included in analysis was 105 dental interns with an average age of 24.7 years who were treating patients between July 2019 and August 2020 in emergency dental clinics at TUCDH. Results: The survey response rate was 100% and 51.4% of the participants felt comfortable and 80% felt confident on emergency days. However, male interns were significantly more comfortable and confident than females (P = 0.001 and 0.022 respectively). Endo-emergency constituted 77% of dental emergencies followed by surgery. 81.9% believe that age is the most challenging factor affecting their ER work, and most of them do not believe that patient's gender and ethnicity affect their performance. Stock shortages were the biggest challenge for their supervisor-led management. Conclusion: Majority of interns feel satisfied with their management of emergency cases during COVID-19 Pandemic with superior male significant meaning. More emergency training programs should be established in the educational dental curriculum to improve their satisfaction and confidence rate, especially for females during pandemics.