Evaluation of dental education during the pandemic of COVID‐19—Results from an online survey among dental students

Abstract

AbstractIntroductionThe aim of this study was to assess the students' experience with education during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as well as to investigate their views moving forward after resumption of face‐to‐face education.Materials and MethodsA questionnaire was administered to dental students in clinical dental education at seven dental schools. The questionnaire included 33 items organized in three sections: (a) Demographics, (b) Perceptions/activity during lockdown, and (c) Perceptions/activity upon resumption of face‐to‐face teaching.ResultsA total of 286 students from seven universities in Europe and Asia participated. Students' satisfaction with education during the pandemic varied among universities and ranged between 36%–80%, but students engaged in delivering emergency care had a significantly higher opinion (p = .001). Students who felt that their workload decreased, were commonly 24 years old or older (p = .015), male (p = .05) reported lower concentration and motivation, experienced a more severe disruption and valued lower the efforts of their universities to ensure the continuity of education (p = .009). The majority of the students (80.3%) felt confident to resume clinical training after the lockdown. In general, female students experienced a higher disruption of their education during the pandemic (p = .043) and expressed lower confidence to continue clinical training in comparison to their male colleagues (p = .001).ConclusionStudents’ perception of their workload during the COVID‐19 lockdown was very diverse, with those experiencing a reduction in workload being more likely to express lower satisfaction as well. Female students experienced a higher level of disruption. Engaging students in the delivery of emergency care had a positive effect on their appreciation of the education.