Evaluation of the Perspectives of the 2nd Year Students of the Dental Prosthesis Technology Program towards the Practice Courses and the Profession

Abstract

In our University's Vocational School of Health Services, there is a Dental Prosthesis Technology program, which provides training to train dental technicians who enable the laboratory work of fixed and removable prostheses according to the treatment planned by the dentist. In the dental prosthesis technology program, in addition to the theoretical courses, practical courses are also given. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the demographic data of students enrolled in a state university, the efficiency of the practice courses and the students' perspectives on the profession. Our study group consisted of 61 second year students from the University of Health Sciences Department of Dental Services, Dental Prosthesis Technology Program. All of the students voluntarily participated in the survey created via Google Forms. In our study, students' application efficiency was measured as practise evaluation score (PES). In addition, questions about job anxiety levels and career planning after graduation were asked. There was no statistically significant difference between the distributions of career planning according to the reason for choosing the department (p>0.050). There is no statistically significant relationship between the age of the students and their anxiety about finding a job when they graduate (p=0.257). According to gender, students' anxiety about finding a job when they graduate differs (p=0.031). There was no significant difference between the application evaluation scores of the students according to their career planning (p>0.050). As a result of the study, the anxiety level of finding a job after graduation in female students was found to be higher than that of male students. The students stated that the reason for their low PES was the limited time given.