Perceived learned skills and professional development of graduates from a master in dental public health programme

Abstract

IntroductionAssessing the impact of a training programme is important for quality assurance and further development. It also can helps with accountability and marketing purposes. This study evaluated the impact of King's College London (KCL) Master of Science programme in Dental Public Health in terms of graduates' perceived learned skills and professional development.MethodsAn online questionnaire was sent to individuals who completed successfully the KCL Master of Science programme in Dental Public Health and had a valid email address. Participants provided information on demographic characteristics, perceived learned skills (intellectual, practical and generic) and professional development (type of organisation, position in the organisation and functions performed at work before and after the programme). Learned skills' scores were compared by demographic factors in multiple linear regression models, and the distribution of responses on career development was compared using nonparametric tests for paired groups.ResultsAlthough all scores on learned skills were on the favourable side of the Likert scale, graduates reported higher scores for practical skills, followed by intellectual and generic skills. No differences in scores were found by sex, age, nationality or time since graduation. In terms of career development, there were significantly higher proportions of graduates working in higher education institutions and taking leadership/managerial roles in organisations as well as greater number and variety of functions at work after than before the programme.ConclusionThis online survey shows that the programme has had a positive impact on graduates in terms of perceived learned skills and professional development.

Perceived stress among French dental students and their opinion about education curriculum and pedagogy

“…[ 3 4 5 ] Moreover, it has been reported that stress could affect mental health like anxiety, depression,[ 6 7 ] burnout, and suicide. [ 8 9 10 ] High levels of stress among students could lead to decreased concentration, decreased job satisfaction, and increased proneness to make medical errors. [ 11 ]…”

Environmental Health Graduates’ Work Skills Competencies: Perspectives from the Employers and the Graduates

“…The study by Walsh et al, [23] showed that despite being trained, public health graduates lacked critical knowledge and experience to operate under stressful conditions thereby resorting to other comfortable career options. Our study seem to point out some training gaps which could be identified as professional training needs and ploughed back to the graduates' curriculum for better workforce development as suggested by Aslam and team [24].…”

Competencies for dental public health specialists: A thematic analysis

“…Documents without a focus on the development and definition of postgraduate DPH competencies were excluded (for example, articles about undergraduate DPH education or DPH's role in clinical interventions). This resulted in 12 citations with available full‐text in English language 15,20,23–28,39–41 . Moreover, four other official documents were identified through a manual search in Google and Google Scholar, which resulted in a total of 16 documents (Appendix ).…”

“…This resulted in 12 citations with available full-text in English language. 15,20,[23][24][25][26][27][28][39][40][41] Moreover, four other official documents were identified through a manual search in Google and Google Scholar, which resulted in a total of 16 documents (Appendix A). After a full-text review of the included literature, 11 articles were excluded due to either being outdated or not discussing the development of postgraduate competencies for DPH.…”