BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: A DENTAL STUDENT'S HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN SECONDARY HEALTH CARE HOSPITAL

Abstract

Introduction: Students' clinical development has been greatly aided by the fact that primary care outreach programs are able to offer them training beyond what is provided in a traditional dental school. The purpose of this research was to ascertain whether or not dental students' familiarity with recent medical postings influences their own growth.

Methods: The questionnaire-based study was intended for third- and fourth-year BDS students. The survey asks undergraduate dental students gaining medical experience sixteen questions designed to gauge their knowledge, attitude, and clinical practice. On a five-point Likert scale, students will be asked to rate each questionnaire item as either "True," "mostly true," "neither true nor false," "false," or "mostly false." The data was analyzed using the Chi-square and Fishers exact tests.

Result: Many more third-year students (39, or 54.9 %) than fourth-year students (35, or 39.3 %) reported that they had gained confidence and improved their interpersonal skills as a result of their medical posting, and that they had been able to do a wider variety of work in a community setting than in a department.

Conclusion: Clinical instruction away from the student's home dental school, known as "outreach," gives students access to facilities and equipment that might otherwise be inaccessible. Practice settings vary according to factors such as local culture, needs, available resources, and patient population, but they all teach students valuable lessons about the real-world challenges they'll face in their chosen careers.

Keywords: Community based learning, Community Setting, Outreach posting, Secondary care.