The Impact of a 1-Year COVID-19 Extension on Undergraduate Dentistry in Dundee: Final Year Students’ Perspectives of Their Training in Oral Surgery

Abstract

Background: The detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental education prompted the Scottish Government to fund an additional year to the dental course to ensure that the students had the necessary clinical experience. The aim of the study was to better understand the final year student perceptions of this extension on their oral surgery experience at the University of Dundee. Methods: This mixed methods study consisted of an anonymous online questionnaire and a focus group. Results: Forty-one students (69.3%) completed the questionnaire and ten students participated in the focus group. Thirty-six (88.8%) students agreed that the oral surgery teaching provided sufficient knowledge to undertake independent practice. All of the students felt confident to carry out an extraction, and the majority of them (n = 40, 95%) felt confident to remove a retained root, however, their confidence with surgery was lower. Conclusion: The extension gave the students sufficient experience in oral surgery to gain confidence in clinical skills and an appropriate level of knowledge in preparation for the next phase of their career. Most of the students agreed that the extension was necessary and beneficial. This cohort graduated with more oral surgery experience than any of the students did in the previous 4 years from Dundee and with experience that was comparable with the students at other schools in the pre-COVID-19 era.

Advancing Proficiency in Lacrimal Syringing: Comparative study of Two Different Syringing Techniques and Designing of a Self-serve Training Model

“…Previous studies have consistently revealed the crucial role of con dence as a trait in physicians, highlighting the unique relationship between post-training con dence and competence [13]. Participants who underwent effective training demonstrated a high level of con dence, which in turn can enhance various motivational elements, including ambition, effort, creativity, and more, during their learning tasks [14]. Our survey shows that participants using the training model tended to acquire higher skill assessment scores (80.741±8.321 vs. 76.817±9.075), although the difference was not statistically signi cant(P=0.167).…”

A Comparison of Models for Teaching Suturing and Surgical Skills to Dental Students

“…Undergraduate dental student experience of surgery across the United Kingdom is quite limited [ 23 , 24 ] and we have shown that at the end of final year students still lack confidence in surgery [ 25 ]. The potential consequences and wider health service cost could be great if poor clinician confidence influences referral patterns with resultant impact on specialist services, patient waiting times and secondary care treatment costs [ 26 ].…”