Assessing Dental Student and Faculty Views on the Transition to the Clinical Setting

Abstract

Introduction: Dental education reform has been a focus for many schools over recent years, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the presented study was to assess faculty and student preferences for feedback styles, learning modalities in the clinical setting, and transitioning from the preclinical to clinical environments.

Methods: Two separate surveys were distributed to clinical faculty and students from classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Results: Notably, faculty had significantly more favorable views on interpersonal dynamics within the student clinic compared to students (p = 0.0255). While students and faculty differed in their views on the transition from preclinical to clinical practice, clinical performance, and teaching/learning modality preferences, these results were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Nevertheless, discrepancies in student and faculty responses to questions centering on feedback preferences, teaching/learning modality preferences, and transitioning to the clinical environment indicate potential avenues to explore for future development efforts.