Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36698104›Full record

ArticleBMC oral health2023

Evaluation of national dental curriculum in Iran using senior dental students' feedback.

Arvin Salmani, Hooman Keshavarz, Majid Akbari, Mohammad Javad Kharrazifard, Shabnam Varmazyari, Mohammad Reza Khami

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC oral health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Arvin SalmaniInternational Campus, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Hooman KeshavarzDepartment of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Majid AkbariRestorative Dentistry Department, Dental Research Center, School of Dentistry, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Mohammad Javad KharrazifardSchool of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Shabnam VarmazyariResearch Center for Caries Prevention, Dentistry Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mohammad Reza KhamiResearch Center for Caries Prevention, Dentistry Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mkhami@tums.ac.ir.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDental curriculums require regular revision to stay up to date in scientifical and societal fields. Senior dental students are among the main stakeholders of such curriculums. The present study investigated the opinions of Iranian senior dental students regarding the adequacy of their dentistry program and the national dental curriculum in training a competent dentist, the program's content, and its structure.

methodsA previously designed and validated questionnaire on the opinion of senior dental students regarding curriculum adequacy was sent to a representative in each of the country's dental schools. Before the COVID pandemic terminated data collection, a total of 16 schools (438 students) managed to respond (37%). The questionnaire asked the students to assess the adequacy of the training received in curriculum's theoretical and practical competencies with the help of a five-point Likert scale that ranged from "Completely inadequate" to "Completely adequate". It also questioned them on its teaching methods and intensity. SPSS software version 24 and Chi-square test served for statistical analysis.

resultsIn total, the study has 438 participants, 245 female and 193 male. Significant sex differences were spotted in the responses concerning both theoretical and practical training. Regarding general training adequacy, 50 (22.6%) female students and 50 male ones (30.7%), P = 0.08 agreed that the program was acceptable. The numbers for students of old (more than 15 years of activity) and new schools were 47 (21.7%) and 53 (31.7%), respectively (P = 0.03). Nearly one-third deemed the teaching methods appropriate. Regarding the duration of curriculum phases, 33 students (8.3%) believed that basic science required extension, while 108 (28.6%) and 266 (69.1%) reported such need for pre-clinical and clinical phases. The school's years of activity emerged as significant, as 38.1% of students from new schools versus 21.7% of those from old ones deemed the extension of pre-clinical phase necessary (P < 0.001).

conclusionA significant number of Iranian senior dental students found the undergraduate dental curriculum inadequate regarding competencies, content, and teaching. Further investigations will determine whether it's the curriculum or its implementation that warrants revision.

Indexed as

COVID-19Students, DentalCurriculumFeedbackFemaleHumansIranMaleSchools, DentalSurveys and QuestionnairesDental curriculumEvaluationIRANStudent

Identifiers

PMID36698104
PMCPMC9876750

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.