EVALUATION OF THE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ABOUT CLINICAL EDUCATION AND EXAMINATION IN MASHHAD SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY (IRAN) IN 2009

Introduction: Evaluation of educational processes in different fields of medical sciences has high priority because of the important role in professional experts training. Dentistry, as an important field of medical sciences, requires scientific & professional skills. Surveying the opinions of dental students as the main actual consumers of the education is one of the most popular methods to evaluate the quality of dental clinical education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the students’ perception about clinical education and examination in Mashhad dental school in 2009. Materials & Methods: All students at fourth, fifth and sixth grades of Mashhad dental school in 2009, were participated in this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was designed in this study to assess clinical education. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was proved. The results were presented in tables. Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare between groups (α=0.05). Results: The results showed that the students’ perception, in most areas of education, performance of clinical faculty, clinical facilities, clinical assessment, evaluation of students’ activities by professors, nurses cooperation and educational purposes was positive while there were some deficiencies particularly in course selection, and monitoring student’s work in a few departments. There was no difference between clinical education and evaluation of departments in dental school in students’ points of view. Conclusion: It can be concluded that revision of school activities & review of curriculum for possible changes, providing equipment and materials required in the clinical environment is suggested.