Self-Perceived Preparedness to Work Independently Among Graduating Dental Students in Saudi Arabia: Traditional Versus Integrated Curriculum

Sudhakar Vundavalli

doi:10.1590/pboci.2020.066

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the perceived preparedness of graduating dental students to work independently and to compare these perceptions between Traditional and Integrated curriculums of dentistry in Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: A pretested self-administered questionnaire was filled by 258 dental students from four dental institutions across the country. The questionnaire covered 10 domains consisting of sixty suitable questions. Students were asked to mark their responses at one of five levels of performance for each of the selected skills ranging from 0 (not yet learned) to 4 (can do it confidently). Mean scores for each subscale of the Questionnaire were calculated by individual items and for all comparison, p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant . Results: 253 graduating students were included in the final analysis, out of which 108 belongs to the Integrated curriculum group and 145 from Traditional curriculum. Overall scores of Traditional curriculum students (176 ± 4.8) were more compared to Integrated curriculum students (161 ± 3.2), which are statistically significant. Integrated curriculum students had more self-perceived skill scores in Orthodontics, Conservative/Operative Dentistry & Endodontics, Dental Public Health and Drug & Emergency management group of clinical skills. Overall, perceived preparedness to practice dentistry for all participants is 60.5% and traditional curriculum students expressed more preparedness (68%) than Integrated curriculum (53%) . Conclusion: Overall, preparedness to practice independently is unsatisfactory compared to other countries. The Ministry of Education (KSA) should take necessary actions to bridge the gap between training dentists and to be competent practitioners.

Highlights

Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the largest country in the Middle East, with 34.2 million population [1].the Country’s healthcare system consists of both government and private health care providers, but the public health care system caters for the majority of the population and it holds good for Health care manpower training [2]
Material and Methods: A pretested self-administered questionnaire was filled by 258 dental students from four dental institutions across the country
The first formal dental institution in Saudi Arabia was established at King Saud University, Riyadh, in the year 1976 and currently, more than twenty dental institutions offering graduation course in Dentistry [2]

Summary

Introduction

Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the largest country in the Middle East, with 34.2 million population [1].the Country’s healthcare system consists of both government and private health care providers, but the public health care system caters for the majority of the population and it holds good for Health care manpower training [2]. Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the largest country in the Middle East, with 34.2 million population [1]. The first formal dental institution in Saudi Arabia was established at King Saud University, Riyadh, in the year 1976 and currently, more than twenty dental institutions offering graduation course in Dentistry [2]. Dental students in KSA are trained to excel in an institutional setup, but there appears to be a disengage between what knowledge and skills acquired during their graduation and what is required for clinical practice settings [3]. In an independent clinical setup, it is mandatory to have clinical problem-solving skills and practical knowledge regarding a variety of patients/dental problems are necessary

Results

Discussion

Conclusion