Veterans Emergency Management Center (VEMEC), US, Department of Veterans Affairs, 16111 Plummer St. MS-152 Bldg. 22, North Hills, CA, 91343, USA.
Division of Health Services Management and Policy, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, OH, USA.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Jun 11;24(1):655. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05628-3.
The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly altered dental practice, training, and education. This study investigates the pandemic's impacts on the clinical training experiences of dental and dental hygienist trainees at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Using data from post-doctoral general practice dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienist trainees who completed the VA Trainee Satisfaction Survey before and during COVID-19, we performed logistic regression and thematic content analyses to determine whether COVID-19 was associated with training satisfaction and likelihood of considering future VA employment.
While post-doctoral dentist and dental specialty trainees did not report significant differences, dental hygienist trainees reported increased overall satisfaction and an increased likelihood to consider future VA employment during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Similar reasons for dissatisfaction were identified for both the pre-pandemic and pandemic groups.
Research outside VA indicates the pandemic's association with trainees' intentions to leave health profession education programs. Our results suggest the likely existence of factors that could lead to positive changes for at least some portion of the dental workforce. Future studies should explore those potential factors as some may be replicable in other settings or may apply to other health professions.
COVID-19 大流行迅速改变了牙科实践、培训和教育。本研究调查了 COVID-19 对美国退伍军人事务部（VA）牙科和牙科保健员实习生临床培训体验的影响。
使用在 COVID-19 之前和期间完成 VA 实习生满意度调查的博士后普通牙科医生、牙科专家和牙科保健员实习生的数据，我们进行了逻辑回归和主题内容分析，以确定 COVID-19 是否与培训满意度和未来考虑 VA 就业的可能性相关。
尽管博士后牙医和牙科专业实习生没有报告显著差异，但与大流行前相比，牙科保健员实习生在大流行期间报告了更高的总体满意度和更有可能考虑未来的 VA 就业。对于大流行前和大流行期间的群体，不满意的原因相似。
VA 以外的研究表明，大流行与受训者离开医疗保健专业教育计划的意图有关。我们的研究结果表明，至少对一部分牙科劳动力来说，可能存在导致积极变化的因素。未来的研究应该探讨这些潜在因素，因为其中一些因素可能在其他环境中具有可复制性，或者可能适用于其他医疗保健专业。
