Mohsin Syed Fareed, Shah Shahzad Ali, Agwan Muhammad Atif Saleem, Ali Saqib, Alsuwaydani Ziyad Ahmad, AlSuwaydani Saleh Ahmad
Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry in Ar Rass, Qassim University, Ar Rass, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Department of Restorative Dentistry, College of Dentistry in Ar Rass, Qassim University, Ar Rass, Kingdom of SaudiArabia.
Work. 2022;71(4):825-831. doi: 10.3233/WOR-205377.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has emerged as a global pandemic recognized by the World Health Organization. It has a significant impact on Saudi Arabia's educational process, resulting in several universities suspending on-campus teaching, exams, and training.
The study aimed to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on dental students' examination, internship placement, and subsequent impact on preparedness and confidence.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to gather data from dental interns in Saudi Arabia using a pre-tested online questionnaire. Convenient sampling was applied to collect data from 5th September to 15th September 2020. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Descriptive data were presented as frequency and percentages. The Chi-square test was used to evaluate the relationship between variables.
Data of 409 dental interns from 8 dental schools reported that 209 (51%) participants' exams were affected as the format was changed to online examination. 130 (31.8%) dental interns strongly agreed that assistance in hospitals during the outbreak of COVID-19 would complement their learning opportunities. Whereas 115(28.1%) respondents strongly agreed that dental schools' measures to modify their curriculum were necessary.The impact of COVID-19 on dental intern preparedness discovered that the affected exams had a significant effect on final year students' readiness to begin the internship (p = 0.042). Considering students' confidence in starting the training earlier than expected, the student course had a statistically significant impact on their confidence (p = 0.002).
The current study demonstrates that COVID-19 had disrupted dental interns' preparedness towards clinical rotation and decreased their confidence performing in the clinical setup. Due to being unprepared and having low confidence, most dental interns were not ready to start working in the hospital on time.
冠状病毒病（COVID-19）已成为世界卫生组织认可的全球大流行病。它对沙特阿拉伯的教育进程产生了重大影响，导致几所大学暂停校内教学、考试和培训。
本研究旨在评估COVID-19对牙科学生考试、实习安排以及对准备情况和信心的后续影响。
采用横断面研究，通过预先测试的在线问卷从沙特阿拉伯的牙科实习生收集数据。于2020年9月5日至9月15日采用便利抽样收集数据。使用SPSS 23版软件进行数据分析。描述性数据以频率和百分比表示。采用卡方检验评估变量之间的关系。
来自8所牙科学院的409名牙科实习生的数据报告称，209名（51%）参与者的考试受到影响，因为考试形式改为在线考试。130名（31.8%）牙科实习生强烈认为，在COVID-19疫情期间在医院提供协助将补充他们的学习机会。而115名（28.1%）受访者强烈认为牙科学校修改课程的措施是必要的。COVID-19对牙科实习生准备情况的影响发现，受影响的考试对最后一年学生开始实习的准备情况有显著影响（p = 0.042）。考虑到学生对早于预期开始培训的信心，学生课程对他们的信心有统计学显著影响（p = 0.002）。
当前研究表明，COVID-19扰乱了牙科实习生对临床轮转的准备，并降低了他们在临床环境中的表现信心。由于准备不足和信心低落，大多数牙科实习生未准备好按时开始在医院工作。
