Our role as dental schools is to prepare and graduate dentists who are confident and capable of performing the general dentistry procedures with high quality and proficiency. Therefore, dental educational environment is expected to enable students to acquire the necessary theoretical, clinical experiences and to expose them to continuous self- assessment opportunities equivalent to the environment in which they are likely to be practicing dentistry. 1,2
Dental education is regarded as a complex, demanding and often stressful pedagogical procedure. The quality of any dental program is reflected by assessing graduating students’ professional preparedness. Whilst academicians assess students’ work preparedness through examinations and evaluations, it is equally important to understand the work preparedness as perceived by students. So continuous student feedback can improve the quality management in dental education, which embraces teaching, research, clinical care, professionalism and infrastructure in a dental school.
Problem based learning (PBL) is one of the educational approaches in which a problem serves as the stimulus for active learning. This approach is student-centered in a way that students define the problem and establish learning objectives required to develop their understanding of the problem. 3 It was introduced into health sciences education at McMaster University in 1969.3,4 It was then introduced in dental schools in the 1990 at the faculty of Odontology in Malmo, Sweden. After that, gradually PBL was implemented in the majorities of the dental schools around the world.3,5,6 Multiple studies have been done to evaluate the effectiveness of PBL. The study’s results were contradictory.3,7−12 Students graduating from problem-based medical schools considered themselves to have much better interpersonal skills, better competencies in problem solving and information gathering, and better task supporting skills, such as the ability to work and plan efficiently.2,13This was compared with traditional pedagogy and it was found that PBL pedagogy was preferred by students.2,13 It is argued that research on PBL should contribute towards a better understanding of why and how the concepts work or do not work and under what circumstances. 14
Another tool used in many dental schools to educate dental students is competency-based assessment. Problem-based learning (PBL) is closely linked to dental competencies, especially in diagnosis and treatment planning.15 Competence comprises an integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes indicating a capability to perform professional tasks safely and ethically. 16 Clinical competency assessments are an important part of dental curricula to satisfy national requirements, maintain professionalism and ensure graduates are prepared for independent clinical practice. However, the amount of importance that graduates place on each competency might impact their confidence in the associated competencies and vice versa.1,17
From another view competency-based education helps to improve educational quality, define roles and professional development for the dental educator, and inform further research. 16 It has been used to evaluate students’ competency in a specific procedure or skill assigned in almost all branches of dentistry e.g.: examination, treatment planning, restorative procedures, periodontal treatment, basic surgical procedure, prevention and pediatric dentistry.18
The dental school in University of Jordan implemented a PBL curriculum with multiple structured didactic courses and a competency-based assessment for each branch of dentistry. In their teaching strategy they focused on designing a curriculum based on the comprehensive care management of the patients. ,Compared to the previously adopted requirement-based curriculum. In the new curriculum patients are referred within the group depending on the skill levels required to provide care. As fourth year students are given less complex procedures and competencies in comparison with the fifth year students whom in addition have a comprehensive case to treat and present covering all branches in dentistry in an organized treatment plan: Periodontology, Surgery, Endodontics, Conservative, and Prosthodontics. Positive feedback from the teaching faculties were verbally reported but no studies were done to evaluate the effectiveness of PBL and competency-based assessment based on the dental students’ perception of their preparedness to perform general dentistry after graduation.
COVID-19 has had many challenges for dentistry some of which may have further long-term impacts on clinical practice, dental education and dental research. 19 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States classified dentist in the very high-risk category because of the potential of exposure to coronavirus through aerosol generating procedures. 20–22 Therefore, this pandemic which affected almost all the countries in the world caused paralysis in clinical education in dental schools and hospitals. On-line learning was a good tool to teach the didactic theoretical courses but it couldn’t replace the hands-on teaching where the students usually gain and develop their skills and manual dexterity. Some dental educators recommend dental school to invest in haptic technology to improve psychomotor skills and also in faculty training for teaching through technology. 21 Dental schools tried their best using web-based seminars, lectures, and case discussions on multiple platforms to compensate the students for that lost part of education which could impact their confidence and preparedness.
The dental students at University of Jordan lost 8 weeks of their clinical training, which counts for 26.7% of their clinic time in their senior year. Many students were not able to successfully complete the required competencies for graduation. Accordingly, the dental school established a policy for senior students, who were deficient in their competencies, to show up to the preclinical labs to practice and successfully perform those competencies on dentoform, taking in consideration social distancing and strict cross infection control measures. The supervising faculties were able to assure that all students successfully passed the required competencies before they can get into the final exams which were done through online OSCE and oral exams.
This research was designed to study the self-perceived preparedness of University of Jordan graduates and the impact of COVID-19 on this preparedness. The research team is also interested to study the university of Jordan graduates’ perception of the effectiveness of PBL and competency-based assessment.