Assessing grit as a potential additional domain for dental students' selection

Abstract

Background: Unhappiness, stress, and burnout will often lead to low academic performance among dental students. Perseverance and passion for long-term goal, known as grit, could overcome these despondent emotions. Our Study is looking at whether grit should be added as another domain during the interview process. The main objective of this study was to determine the association between grit and happiness among Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) dental students. In addition to that, the prevalence of gritty and happy dental students in UiTM was also determined and compared across the years of study. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Validated Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) and Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI) were distributed to all 409 undergraduate dental students in Faculty of Dentistry, UiTM through their class representatives. Scores for both grit and happiness were calculated according to their instruction manual. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 25 by descriptive analysis, oneway ANOVA, independent t-test, Pearson's correlation, and linear regression.Result: Two hundred sixty-six students returned the answered questionnaires, yielding a response rate of 65%. Prevalence of gritty and happy UiTM dental students was found to be at 79% and 41%, respectively. There was a significant positive fair linear correlation between grit and happiness among dental students (r = 0.225, p < 0.001). A significantly higher happiness score is observed among gritty student (p < 0.001). Conclusion: While this study demonstrated high prevalence of grit, prevalence of happiness among UiTM dental students was low. Higher grit score had a positive impact on happiness score among dental students in UiTM. For this reason, grit may be considered as an additional element in selecting upcoming dental students.

The Prevalence of the Burnout Syndrome and Factors Associated in the Students of Dentistry in Integral Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The findings found in similar contexts on the levels of exhaustion reported by dental students provide an alarming perspective, so the use of coping strategies that can be incorporated by university institutions is imperative to avoid academic desertion [ 27 ], as well as also a low motivation of the student about his career and a bad interaction with his patients [ 28 ]. Additionally, regarding the relationship between the dimensions of the BS and the sociodemographic variables, in the present study, statistically significant relationships were found with the marital status variable, with singles reporting higher levels of burnout, possibly due to the fact that students since, they do not have family responsibilities such as children, they tend to overfocus on the professional demands that the career demands of them and dedicate more time to activities such as clinical practices and work.…”

A cross‐sectional study investigating mental health and resilience among pre‐doctoral students at a US dental school

“…These findings highlight the need for dental educators to foster resilience within their student populations, which may occur both prior to matriculation and during dental education. First, resilience may be an admissions criterium of interest, as evidence suggests that such non‐cognitive factors predict academic and clinical success in dental school 26,32–34 . Second, dental students may benefit from concerted attempts to nurture and increase resilience during their professional school career, which is especially needed during the D2 and D3 years.…”

“…First, resilience may be an admissions criterium of interest, as evidence suggests that such non-cognitive factors predict academic and clinical success in dental school. 26,[32][33][34] Second, dental students may benefit from concerted attempts to nurture and increase resilience during their professional school career, which is especially needed during the D2 and D3 years. Educational interventions focused on mindfulness, well-being, and selfcare, 20,35 integration of stress management approaches into dental school curricula as other health professions have done, 36 and concerted training efforts for faculty advisors 20 may help support resilience among enrolled dental students.…”

“…Dental educators can benefit from broader research illuminating how and when mental health challenges present. Additionally, given the wide‐ranging mental health impacts of the global COVID‐19 pandemic, 25 especially among healthcare workers, 7 timely research on protective factors and potential interventions targeted to improve health and wellness within the U.S. dental education system is needed 26 …”

“…Additionally, given the wide-ranging mental health impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, 25 especially among healthcare workers, 7 timely research on protective factors and potential interventions targeted to improve health and wellness within the U.S. dental education system is needed. 26 This study adds to the literature regarding dental students' psychological well-being and mental health by investigating a snapshot of mental health indicators and their relationships with factors such as year in school and degree of resilience. Specifically, this study addresses two primary research questions.…”