Perceptions of dental students, dental faculty, practicing dentists and industry dental professionals on the acquisition of dental competencies and clinical skills in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

IntroductionThis study gathered perceptions from four stakeholder groups in the Dominican Republic (DR) regarding acquiring professional dental competencies and clinical skills.Materials and MethodsResearcher‐created surveys covering core dental competencies and clinical skills were distributed to stakeholder groups associated with nine different DR dental programs. Respondents included 153 undergraduate dental students, 153 dental faculty members, 108 practicing dentists (who had graduated in the past 5 years) and 42 industry professionals (who hire and supervise dentists). Data were examined using descriptive statistics, univariate ANOVA and multiple linear regressions.ResultsDental school students and recent graduates now practicing dentists in the DR reflected moderate to solid confidence that they had learned most of the dental skills and competencies covered in the survey. Industry professionals were a bit less confident overall, while dental faculty offered the lowest scores, although those were often still in the moderately confident range. ANOVAs revealed significant differences when broken down by individual university dental programs. Regressions also revealed that individual university dental programs significantly predict confidence that dental skills and competencies were achieved.ConclusionData show that DR's dental stakeholder groups generally felt optimistic about the learning occurring. However, the lower mean scores and higher standard deviations from faculty responses raise concern, as do the significant differences between individual dental programs and the dental program itself a significant predictor. Further review of programs is needed, and a national set of dental competencies should be considered in this country.

Measuring satisfaction with dental education among dentists and dental students in Croatia: A cross‐sectional study

“…As mentioned earlier, dentists expressed the least satisfaction with “Fixed Prosthodontics”, “Mobile Prosthodontics” and “Orthodontics”. The results of the current study were confirmed by another study conducted in Croatia and other studies from different parts of the world 7,13,14,20 . The dissatisfaction of students who graduated in Croatia is most likely since fixed prosthetic restorations are only partially covered by financial resources of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, and the patients themselves must pay for all major work.…”

“…It has been confirmed in numerous studies that students in the programmes in which these subjects begin in the earlier years of research and have more clinical practice were more satisfied with the acquired knowledge and skills in dental prosthetics. 21 Dissatisfaction with the knowledge learned from "Orthodontics" was also confirmed by research conducted on students in Iran, 13,14 dentists in Saudi Arabia 6 and Great Britain. 22,23 This dissatisfaction is probably the result of insufficient clinical exercises on the patient in the curriculum of specific studies.…”

“…6,12 Similarly, high levels of satisfaction were exhibited by dental students in Babol, Iran and the Dominican Republic. 13,14 (Continues) hand, in a study performed on students from Pakistan, only 23% of participants were generally satisfied with the quality of their dental education. 15 Among the basic learned skills, dentists and students were satisfied with the learned "Selection and use of local anaesthetics, antibiotics and analgesics" and "Reading dental radiographs", which can be explained by the fact that the mentioned topics are taught in different clinical courses during the 3 years of study.…”

“…The results of the current study were confirmed by another study conducted in Croatia and other studies from different parts of the world. 7,13,14,20…”

“…At the same time, they were relatively dissatisfied with the “hard” skills, which emphasizes a need for more hands‐on training 6,12 . Similarly, high levels of satisfaction were exhibited by dental students in Babol, Iran and the Dominican Republic 13,14 . On the other hand, in a study performed on students from Pakistan, only 23% of participants were generally satisfied with the quality of their dental education 15…”