Self-rated Competencies of Dental Students At Terminal Level

Objectives: The objectives of this survey were to assess the levels of self rated competencies amongst these students at their terminal stage of final year. Material & Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was used amongst the final year dental students of Dr. Ishrat-ul-ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, that was adapted from a previously used questionnaire to assess the same amongst alumni of University of West Indies (2004). The items included fulfilled the domain of skills related to practice management, communication, community based services, chair-side technical and non-technical services and research. The scoring for competencies was done by assigning scores such as 1=not at all competent, 2= competent and 3= very much competent. Results: Over all, response rate achieved was 83%. Highest mean score attained were that for “able to work effectively with patients to achieve over all health” (2.36), “need for referral” (2.36) and very competent in “managing anxious patients” (2.85). Whereas, lowest competencies rated were found associated with research skills such as “present a research” (1.1) followed by some technical skills such as “design and deliver crown and bridge” (1.5) and “treat endodontic sequelae” (1.4). Conclusion: Objectives in developing such dental graduates with a wide range of dental competencies have always been questioned. The reason for them being questioned may be the traditional methods of dental education that until relatively recently has been in practice which typically utilizes didactic, individual discipline-based curricula to teach students increments of prescribed subject matter, where research is not a part of the curriculum of most of the dental institutions. Development of dental curricula may therefore require focusing more on desired learning outcomes and the core competencies expected at graduation.