Perceptions of Saudi dental students on cultural competency

Abstract

Objectives:To probe dental students’ perceptions on their cultural competency and international student exchange programs as a way of improving cultural competency training.Methods:A cross-sectional survey (n=460) was distributed to predoctoral students at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in May 2014 at the male and female university campuses. Descriptive statistics were carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (p=0.05).Results:It was found that 79.6% of students think that teaching them regarding cultural diversity is important. Only 41% of students thought their dental education teaches them on the importance of volunteerism and philanthropy. Most students (89.8%) think that international student exchanges can enhance their cultural competence.Conclusion:In this study, it was found that students believe that cultural competence is important and participation in international student exchange programs can enhance their training.

A scoping review on social justice education in current undergraduate dental curricula

“…One study discussed ethical commitment, the limited time spent on ethics education, and the difficulty in assessing ethics in the context of students’ behaviors . Another study further highlighted the pivotal role of instructors and how their actions can influence students’ perceptions of what is ethical in a dental context .…”

Retracted: Differences in Dental Students' Intercultural Competence Across a Four‐Year Program

“…In other dental schools around the world, Saudi Arabian dental students reported cultural competence was a highly important topic and acknowledged their school should implement more ways to improve cultural competence 16 . A curriculum review in an Australian university urged for increased transcultural content in the DDS curriculum 13 .…”

Cultural competency and communication skills of dental students: clinical supervisors' perceptions

“…However, there is no magic formula to ensure that the unique cultural needs of every patient are addressed. In line with the literature, the main approaches cited by CS to facilitate the learning of the cognitive basis of cultural competence included a variety of teaching exercises that enable feedback on course content and student response , practical exercises [role playing and simulation] , clinical rotations in culturally diverse communities and self‐evaluation [reflective diaries about personal opinions concerning treating culturally diverse patients and their CC training] , as well as interdisciplinary courses with other health practitioners . It was also suggested that increasing the proportion of students from ethnic minorities within dental schools, and exposure to as wide as possible a variety of cultures may help address challenges associated with cultural diversity and cultural learning .…”

“…Methods of tackling the teaching of CC have been researched in the fields of medicine , nursing and dentistry . Despite this, there are reports of a lack of awareness of the importance of cultural competence in dental education .…”