Shukla Anubhuti, Amrutham Bhavya Vaishnavi
Department of Dental Public Health and Dental Informatics, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2025 Feb;89(2):145-154. doi: 10.1002/jdd.13707. Epub 2024 Sep 16.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted educational frameworks worldwide, particularly affecting health professions education. The impact on students varied based on local pandemic severity, public health policies, and institutional capacities. Our observational, retrospective study evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on senior dental students' performance during community rotations at Indiana University School of Dentistry.
Data from student self-assessments and faculty evaluations, collected as part of the Community-Based Dental Education (CBDE) course between 2018 to 2022 was utilized. Five key domains of patient care: diagnosis and treatment planning, clinical skills, time management, interprofessional collaboration, and professionalism was assesed using a 5-point Likert scale. Pre- and post-pandemic comparisons of self-reported student evaluation and faculty assessment scores were conducted using two-sample t-tests, with ANOVA used to analyze cohort differences.
Significant declines were observed in mean scores for diagnosis and treatment planning, clinical skills, time management, and interprofessional collaboration during the post-COVID period compared to pre-COVID levels (p < 0.05). Conversely, an increase in average scores related to students' professionalism was noted, although this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Class cohort-wise analysis showed similar patterns, with all cohorts experiencing significant declines in the aforementioned areas (p < 0.05) and non-significant increases in professionalism scores (p > 0.05).
This study findings underscore the challenges faced by dental education in adapting to pandemic-induced disruptions and highlight the importance of adaptive approaches and support systems to address these challenges. Moving forward, resolving disparities in assessments and comprehending the various factors influencing student performance will be crucial to preserving the adaptability and effectiveness of dentistry education in the face of adversity.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行扰乱了全球教育框架，尤其对卫生专业教育产生了影响。其对学生的影响因当地疫情严重程度、公共卫生政策和机构能力而异。我们的观察性回顾性研究评估了COVID-19大流行对印第安纳大学牙科学院高年级牙科学生社区轮转期间表现的影响。
利用2018年至2022年作为基于社区的牙科教育（CBDE）课程一部分收集的学生自我评估和教师评价数据。使用5点李克特量表评估患者护理的五个关键领域：诊断和治疗计划、临床技能、时间管理、跨专业协作和专业素养。使用双样本t检验对疫情前和疫情后学生自我报告评价和教师评估分数进行比较，使用方差分析来分析队列差异。
与COVID-19之前的水平相比，COVID-19之后诊断和治疗计划、临床技能、时间管理和跨专业协作的平均分数显著下降（p<0.05）。相反，学生专业素养相关的平均分数有所增加，尽管这种差异没有统计学意义（p>0.05）。按班级队列分析显示了类似的模式，所有队列在上述领域都出现了显著下降（p<0.05），专业素养分数无显著增加（p>0.05）。
本研究结果强调了牙科教育在适应疫情引发的干扰方面面临的挑战，并突出了适应性方法和支持系统应对这些挑战的重要性。展望未来，解决评估中的差异并理解影响学生表现的各种因素对于在逆境中保持牙科教育的适应性和有效性至关重要。
