Western Australian Dental Graduates’ Perception of Preparedness to Practice: A Five‐Year Follow‐Up

Abstract

The School of Dentistry in Western Australia developed a pregraduation intern year in which final-year students, having completed their didactic education, undertook a focused clinical experiential program (CEP) over an extended year. This program was implemented for the first time in 2002. The aim of this study was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum as perceived by graduates and to compare the perceptions of those graduates who did the CEP to those who did not. A survey with questions based on the graduate outcomes of the dental school was mailed to all graduates from 2000, 2001 (did not complete CEP), and 2004 (completed CEP). The response rate was 66 percent (n=57) and included twenty-nine respondents who graduated before implementation of the CEP and twenty-eight who completed the CEP. Most respondents (80 percent) were in the twenty to twenty-nine age group, and there were slightly more males (53 percent). Learning outcome items with the highest mean scores were practicing universal precautions (4.2), behaving ethically (4.2), and demonstrating a satisfactory level of core dental knowledge (4.2). Practical skills outcomes with the highest scores were amalgam restorations (4.

The confidence of undergraduate dental students in Saudi Arabia in performing endodontic treatment

“…In other studies, students considered molars to be the most difficult tooth to treat. [14][15][16] In our study, the maximum number of teeth treated in the 4 th year was four cases, by 66.7% of the students, while the maximum number of teeth treated in 5 th year was 11 cases, by 8.8% of the students. The number of teeth treated by students in the 4 th and 5 th year did not meet the recommendations of the European Society of Endodontology 2001 guidelines, which advised that for adequate competency a student should complete root canal treatments in 20 teeth.…”

Evaluation of dental students′ perception and self-confidence levels regarding endodontic treatment

“…When the types of teeth were scored in terms of self-confidence levels regarding endodontic treatment, molar teeth yielded relatively lower values consistent with the results of some other authors. [9][10][11] Bartlett, et al [10] indicated that dental schools might have the opinion that students can develop their skills in challenging cases better in general practice rather than the clinical environment offered by dental schools; therefore, they might prefer to provide students with the knowledge of basic principles of these cases only. This comment may not be valid for the school in which this survey was conducted as students are expected to dedicate a significant proportion of their endodontic practice to molar endodontics.…”

Preparedness of dental graduates for foundation training: a qualitative study

“…6 Preparedness of dental graduates is an abstract concept and has been explored in a number of studies. 1,[7][8][9] However, the studies conducted so far primarily focus on identifying the magnitude of issues related to clinical skills using pre-designed questionnaires with limited opportunities for the stakeholders to articulate the essential attributes and skills expected from dental graduates. The aim of the study was to dissect the concept of preparedness of dental graduates and gain a deeper understanding to identify the essential attributes expected from a new dental graduate upon entry into foundation training.…”