Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aims: Dentists faced the highest risk of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educating competent students is the first task of the dental school to overcome the created problems and thus, it is necessary to recognize the created educational deficiencies. This study aimed to assess the students' perspectives from the Dental School at Tehran University of Medical Sciences during the academic year 2019-2020, concerning the competencies expected to be developed during the clinical phase of the general dentistry curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are intended to inform the formulation of educational strategies in the post-pandemic period to address identified gaps in training.
Materials and Methods: During the academic year 2019-2020, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at the School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The study consisted of three phases: checklist design, psychometrics, and a survey of general dentistry students in their third to sixth year. The checklist design phase involved a team of four individuals, including educational officials from the faculty, academic staff members, and medical education experts. Experts confirmed the content validity of the checklist, while reliability was assessed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), which indicated favorable validity and reliability. Subsequently, questionnaires formatted as Google Forms and a census approach were distributed to all students enrolled in the general dental course within the clinical section of the School of Dentistry at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Ultimately, following the data collection process, statistical analysis was conducted utilizing descriptive statistics, including the mean and standard deviation, and the findings were communicated to the group managers.
Results: The assessment of content validity was established at a minimum of 71%, based on the evaluations provided by five experts. Additionally, reliability was measured using an intra-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC) exceeding 0.79, signifying a strong level of both validity and reliability. 122 students (53%) in the clinical stage completed the forms related to the pre-clinical/clinical units passed during the Covid era. Despite having enough training, basics Removable Partial Prosthodontics, Surgery 1, and Restorative 3 courses needed more training. In addition, Basics Removable Partial Prosthodontics, Surgery 1, and Surgery 4 needed the most practical training to acquire the necessary competencies.
Conclusion: The findings of this research indicated that the dental students expressed a desire for increased practice across various levels of pre-clinical and clinical courses. This would suggest that the challenges associated with patient interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic may not be the sole contributing factor. Consequently, alongside the need for educational planning to address the requirements of enrolled students, it appears essential to conduct similar studies in the post-pandemic context. Furthermore, this approach may also prove beneficial in evaluating educational needs for ongoing professional development courses.