An assessment of common concerns of 2nd year post graduate students pursuing M.D.S In orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics, due to the COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract

The fight against the novel coronavirus and the disruption in our daily routine and practise due to lockdown has been mentally exhausting especially for ambitious students pursuing higher studies. The lockdown period came in suddenly giving no chance to be prepared for the worst. Post-graduate students of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics could be badly hit by this lockdown period disrupting the entire treatment course of patients undergoing orthodontic treatment, which needs monthly visits to the orthodontist.To understand the concerns of the students pursuing MDS in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics about their work, academics and the effect of the lockdown on their future, we performed a questionnaire study. The Questionnaire was circulated to 110 Post graduate students pursuing MDS in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics who were currently in the 2nd year of their Post graduate training program.In the present study it was found that around 61.3% of participants panicked about the workload of patients they possibly might have to deal with once college resumed and 29% students were worried about the risk of contracting the infection after resuming to work after the lockdown is lifted. Additionally, around 68.4 & 73.6% students were insecure about the completion of their undergoing cases and thesis till the end of the term respectively and around half of the students were worried that the patients may not turn up for the exam due to the lapse in treatment. A small proportion of students (15.8%) are apprehensive of being homesick after college resumes.Covid-19 lockdown has definitely affected post-graduate students creating a lot of confusion and apprehension in their minds regarding the pending cases and academic work. The uncertainty to cope with it, is still the question left unanswered.

Assessment of Common Problems of Post Graduate Students Pursuing F.C.P.S and M.D.S in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Due To COVID 19 Lockdown

“…In the present study, the average age of the participants came out to be 29 years with ages ranging from 27 to 38 years and more than 70% of the students aged less than 30 while in the previous study which was conducted by Rodrigues lishoy the age range was 25 to 35 years and the average age of 30 years, that clearly states that the average age of trainees differs between the countries 14 .In this study, nearly a quarter i.e;22 (27.2%) of the participants reported that they attended a patient 2 months ago and a few of them also reported that they attended a patient a month ago i.e;4(4.9%) and 4 months ago i.e;4(4.9%). This long gap between appointments is seen because of the strict guidelines discussed by Sunjay Suri, where he discusses the implem-entation of clinical guidelines by many institutes.…”

“…Related to resuming of work after COVID-19 lockdown also demands the health care workers to abide by new international guidelines of social distancing while not compromising the patient care which is quite challenging not only for dental even for every clinical specialty. However, it is thought to be more difficult in the domain of dentistry as the close contact with patients is mandatory for their clinical assessments and to carryout the dental pr-ocedures.A similar study was conducted by Rodrigues Lishoy for Indian postgraduate trainees 14 ,but there is a definitive difference in the training setups between Indian and Pakistani population and also the criteria for selection of the trainees, years of training and level of practice. Every aspect in both populations is somewhat different hence there is a possibility that there might be a difference between concerns and worries amongst the trainees.…”