Before and after: COVID-19 impacts on dental students' well-being, clinical competency and employment opportunities

IF 1.7 4区教育学 Q3 DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE

European Journal of Dental Education Pub Date : 2023-11-27 DOI:10.1111/eje.12977

Eva Barron Hill, Chevvy Mastny-Jensen, Carolina Loch

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

The onset of COVID-19 challenged dental schools worldwide, impacting clinical training. In Australasia, New Zealand adopted a COVID-19 ‘elimination strategy’, involving nationwide lockdowns that halted face-to-face education. The ‘elimination strategy’ adopted at the pandemic onset, which permitted return to ‘normal life’ in 2021, allowed the pandemic impacts and those related workforce transition to be teased out. This study aimed to evaluate perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and well-being, clinical competency and employment opportunities of dental students.

Materials and Methods

Two surveys were distributed to final year dental students (n = 94; age range 20–35): one during their final semester and the second six months following graduation. Surveys included open and closed ended questions on participants' self-perceived impacts of COVID-19 on health and well-being, clinical competency and employment opportunities. Average percentages were calculated and descriptive statistics performed.

Results

Pre-graduation, participants reported COVID-19 negatively impacted their mental and social health. Slightly lower scores on all dimensions of health post-graduation were likely due to transitioning to the workforce. Pre-graduation, less than half of participants felt prepared to provide the full scope of dental treatment; post-graduation most felt confident to do so. Most participants expected COVID-19 would negatively impact employment opportunities for their cohort, despite all participants being employed when the second survey was conducted.

Conclusion

Participants self-rated health and clinical competency scores were lower post-graduation when NZ returned to ‘normal life’, meaning lower scores were related to workforce transition. Dental schools need to be prepared to provide alternative forms of dental education and help mitigate mental health impacts of future major course disruptions.

Abstract Image

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前后对比:COVID-19对牙科学生健康、临床能力和就业机会的影响。

新冠肺炎的爆发给全球牙科学校带来了挑战，影响了临床培训。在澳大拉西亚，新西兰采取了COVID-19“消除战略”，包括在全国范围内封锁，停止面对面教育。大流行开始时采取的“消除战略”使人们能够在2021年恢复“正常生活”，从而使大流行的影响和相关的劳动力转移得以梳理。本研究旨在评估新冠肺炎大流行对牙科学生健康福祉、临床能力和就业机会的感知影响。材料与方法:两份问卷调查分布于口腔医学高年级学生(n = 94;年龄在20-35岁之间):一次是在最后一个学期，一次是在毕业后的第二个六个月。调查包括关于参与者自我感知的COVID-19对健康和福祉、临床能力和就业机会的影响的开放式和封闭式问题。计算平均百分比并进行描述性统计。结果:毕业前，参与者报告COVID-19对他们的心理和社会健康产生了负面影响。毕业后健康各方面的得分略低可能是由于向劳动力过渡。在毕业前，不到一半的参与者觉得准备好提供全面的牙科治疗;毕业后，大多数人都有信心这样做。尽管所有参与者在第二次调查时都有工作，但大多数参与者预计COVID-19将对他们所在群体的就业机会产生负面影响。结论:当新西兰回归“正常生活”时，参与者的自评健康和临床能力得分较低，这意味着较低的得分与劳动力转型有关。牙科学校需要准备提供替代形式的牙科教育，并帮助减轻未来主要课程中断对心理健康的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Journal of Dental Education 医学-学科教育

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

16.70%

发文量

127

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： The aim of the European Journal of Dental Education is to publish original topical and review articles of the highest quality in the field of Dental Education. The Journal seeks to disseminate widely the latest information on curriculum development teaching methodologies assessment techniques and quality assurance in the fields of dental undergraduate and postgraduate education and dental auxiliary personnel training. The scope includes the dental educational aspects of the basic medical sciences the behavioural sciences the interface with medical education information technology and distance learning and educational audit. Papers embodying the results of high-quality educational research of relevance to dentistry are particularly encouraged as are evidence-based reports of novel and established educational programmes and their outcomes.