Department of Social Dentistry, São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2023 Aug;27(3):568-574. doi: 10.1111/eje.12842. Epub 2022 Aug 9.
The present study sought to qualitatively evaluate third-year undergraduate dental students' perceptions of sources of stress during the transition from preclinical to clinical training.
This was an observational, cross-sectional, and qualitative study with a nonprobabilistic sampling design. The sample consisted of students in the third year of the five-year undergraduate degree program in dentistry offered by the São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araraquara, São Paulo State, Brazil (n = 37). Data were collected using open-ended, semistructured, and individual interviews that were recorded on a digital voice recorder. The students were interviewed on campus at a previously scheduled time. Efforts were made to provide a secure and welcoming environment for the interview. The interview questions addressed students' adaptation to clinical training and their perceptions of stress resulting from this transition. Data analysis was based on the qualitative and quantitative Discourse of the Collective Subject (DCS) technique performed with the aid of Qualiquantisoft®.
Most of the students evaluated (75.7%) reported difficulty in the transition from the preclinical to the clinical phase of their program and that this difficulty increased their stress levels during this transition (81.1%). The most frequently cited reason for the increase in stress was the responsibility and demands associated with caring for real patients (54.1%). Almost half of the students (48.6%) reported feeling physical symptoms of stress such as tachycardia, dizziness, headache, and muscle tension during this period. Most of the students (81.1%) required up to one semester to feel that they had adapted to the clinic. Many students used stress reduction strategies such as simply trying to calm down, studying before their clinical work, improving organisation, and asking professors for help. Adaptation to ergonomics and biosafety in the clinic was the most frequently cited impediment (45.9%) to the adaptation process. The students' main suggestions for reducing stress in this transition phase were additional preclinical training in a clinical setting, a more gradual transition, and greater professor receptiveness.
The dental students interviewed herein perceived high levels of stress during the transition from preclinical to clinical training.
本研究旨在定性评估从临床前培训向临床培训过渡期间，三年级本科生对压力源的看法。
这是一项观察性、横断面和定性研究，采用非概率抽样设计。样本由巴西圣保罗州大学（UNESP）牙科学院五年制本科牙科三年级学生组成（n=37）。使用开放式、半结构式和个人访谈收集数据，并使用数字语音记录器进行记录。学生在校园内提前安排的时间接受采访。努力为采访提供一个安全和欢迎的环境。访谈问题涉及学生对临床培训的适应情况以及他们对这一转变所带来的压力的看法。数据分析基于定性和定量的集体话语（DCS）技术，并借助 Qualiquantisoft®进行分析。
大多数学生（75.7%）评估报告在从临床前阶段过渡到临床阶段时遇到困难，并且这种困难增加了他们在过渡期间的压力水平（81.1%）。压力增加的最常见原因是照顾真实患者所带来的责任和需求（54.1%）。近一半的学生（48.6%）在这段时间报告感到身体上的压力症状，如心动过速、头晕、头痛和肌肉紧张。大多数学生（81.1%）需要一个学期的时间才能适应临床工作。许多学生使用减压策略，例如试图平静下来、在临床工作前学习、提高组织能力以及向教授寻求帮助。适应临床工作中的人体工程学和生物安全是适应过程中最常遇到的障碍（45.9%）。学生们在这个过渡阶段减少压力的主要建议是在临床环境中增加临床前培训、更渐进的过渡以及提高教授的接受度。
接受采访的牙科学生认为，从临床前培训向临床培训过渡期间压力水平较高。
