scholarly journals Awareness of importance of research in undergraduate dental students

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL3) ◽  
pp. 1677-1684
Author(s):  
Shifa Jawahar Ali ◽  
Yuvaraj Babu K ◽  
Gifrina Jayaraj

Research can be defined as a study on a particular topic in detail in a systematic and scientific method. The purposes of research are to find something new, to prove or support a theory, to contribute knowledge in a field, or to increase awareness about something. Medical research includes basic research to clinical research which leads to advancement in the pharmaceutical industry, to improve healthcare and public health. Research among undergraduate students will expand knowledge in their field, increases interest in their career and improves their resume for job search. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate dental students to evaluate the awareness of the importance of research. The study population in the study are the undergraduate dental students with a sample size of 100. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions and was shared to undergraduate dental students using online survey platform. 80% of the participants college encourage students to do research, 11% of the students college does not and 9% of the students college partially encourages the students to do research. 48% of the participants said they would continue doing research, 17% said they would not continue doing research and 35% said they might continue doing research. From the results obtained, we can conclude that moderate to a good level of awareness is seen in undergraduate dental students. More awareness should be created and undergraduate students should be encouraged to do research and make the best use of their college years.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Saqib Ali ◽  
◽  
Saman Tauqir ◽  
Beenish Fatima Alam ◽  
Faraz Farooqi ◽  
...  

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the understanding and perception of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the undergraduate preclinical and clinical dental students within Pakistan. Material and Methods: An online survey was developed by the researchers and conducted amongst the undergraduate students at various dental colleges of Pakistan. A pretested questionnaire was used and distributed using social media platforms. The questionnaire consisted of demographics, health status, perception related to general hygiene, understanding and learning attitudes of dental students. Knowledge scores and the attitude responses were compared with the demographics using independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and chi-square, as appropriate. Results: A total of 800 undergraduate dental students responded to the survey, out of which 304(38%) were males and 496(62%) were female students. Students in pre-clinical years were 600(75%), while 200(25%) students were in the clinical years. The knowledge of clinical students regarding COVID-19 was statistically higher (4.71/6), compared to the students in pre-clinical years (4.49/6) (p=0.004). Both groups showed adequate knowledge regarding the route of transmission, symptoms and origin of COVID-19, and COVID-19 being a threat to life. Clinical students did not want to re-use the face mask (75%), compared to the preclinical students (68%) (p-0.048). Students in clinical years reported more awareness regarding the recommended hand washing technique during COVID-19 (p-<0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that dental students in clinical years have adequate knowledge regarding the COVID-19 as compared to the preclinical students. The study identifies all areas where preclinical and clinical students lack basic knowledge. This should be compensated by arranging different webinars and online courses to increase the understanding of both clinical and preclinical students during the pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL3) ◽  
pp. 1668-1676
Author(s):  
Shifa Jawahar Ali ◽  
Gayatri Devi R ◽  
Gifrina Jayaraj

Stress affects the body in many ways and causes various damages to the body. Some of the effects include headache, heart problems, fatigue, reduced memory, asthma and insomnia. When the body is stressed, muscles tense up as a reflex action to protect the body against injury. Chronic stress will cause the muscles in the body to be in a state of constant and leads to stiffness of muscles. This causes muscle pain. The aim of this study is to analyze the awareness level about the effect of stress on muscles in undergraduate students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among undergraduate students to evaluate the awareness about the effect of stress on muscles. The study population in the study are undergraduate students with a sample size of 100. The questionnaire consisted of 16 questions and was shared to undergraduate students using the online survey platform. The results were obtained and statistically analyzed through SPSS software. 82% of the participants said that they had experienced muscle pain, and the remaining 18% have not experienced muscle pain. 40% of the participants get headaches when stressed, 30% do not, and the other 30% sometimes get headaches when stressed. From the results obtained, we can conclude that a moderate level of awareness is seen in undergraduate students about the effect of stress on muscles. More awareness is required among students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL4) ◽  
pp. 642-647
Author(s):  
Bipin M ◽  
Jeevitha M ◽  
Kavitha S

Precision medicine is an emerging approach for the treatment of diseases and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle of a person. Although the term precision medicine is relatively new, the concept has been a part of healthcare for many years. This study focuses especially to evaluate the knowledge on characteristics of precision medicine among dental students. The aim of this study is to analyse the knowledge and awareness of Precision medicine among dental students. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among dental students through a self-administrated questionnaire. The responses had been collected and statistically analysed. 61% of the study population were aware of Precision medicine and surprisingly, 82% of the respondents came across this term precision medicine. This study concludes that the dental students were aware of the term precision medicine, but they were not well aware of the role of precision medicine in the medical field.


Author(s):  
R Swart ◽  
R Duys ◽  
ND Hauser

Background: Simulation-based education (SBE) has been shown to be an effective and reproducible learning tool. SBE is used widely internationally. The current state of SBE in South Africa is unknown. To the best of our knowledge this is the first survey that describes the use and attitudes towards SBE within South Africa. Methods: An online survey tool was distributed by email to: i) the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA) members; and ii) known simulation education providers in South Africa. The respondents were grouped into anaesthesia and non-anaesthesia participants. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Ethics approval was obtained: HREC REF 157/2017. Results: The majority of the respondents provide SBE and integrate it into formal teaching programmes. There is a will amongst respondents to grow SBE in South Africa, with it being recognised as a valuable educational tool. The user groups mainly targeted by SBE, were undergraduate students, medical interns, registrars and nurses. Learning objectives targeted include practical skills, medical knowledge, critical thinking and integrated management. Amongst anaesthesia respondents: the tool most commonly used to assess the quality of learner performance during SBE, for summative assessment, was ‘expert opinion’ (33%); the most frequent methods of evaluating SBE quality were participant feedback (42%) and peer evaluation (22%); the impact of SBE was most frequently assessed by informal discussion (42%) and learner feedback (39%). In anaesthesia SBE largely takes place within dedicated simulation facilities on site (47%). Most respondents report access to a range of SBE equipment. The main reported barriers to SBE were: finance, lack of trained educators, lack of equipment and lack of protected time. A limited number of respondents report engaging in SBE research. There is a willingness in both anaesthesia and non-anaesthesia groups (96% and 89% respectively) to collaborate with other centres. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge this publication provides us with the first cross-sectional survey of SBE in anaesthesia and a selection of non-anaesthetic respondents within South Africa. The majority of respondents indicate that SBE is a valuable education tool. A number of barriers have been identified that limit the growth of SBE within South Africa. It is hoped that with a commitment to ongoing SBE research and evaluation, SBE can be grown in South Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL3) ◽  
pp. 856-860
Author(s):  
Subaraman ◽  
Dhanraj Ganapathy ◽  
Keerthi Sasanka

Rabies awareness in dental students is very important and is very important in creating effective preventive measures in public. Rabies Is a fatal viral disease that can infect all the mammals, but dogs are the main source of human infections. To evaluate the knowledge and awareness of rabies among dental students. This was a questionnaire-based observational cross sectional type of study. The study population consisted of dental students from Saveetha Dental College. A self-designed questionnaire of 10 questions was framed based on the knowledge and awareness of rabies given the dental students using an online survey mode. The survey contained a set of 10 questions eliciting awareness about rabies. The responses were collected and analysed. 83% of students were aware that the rabies is fatal once the symptoms appeared .74% of students were aware that the rabies is a viral disease.68% of students were aware that the rabies is primarily transmitted through saliva.69% of students were aware that rabies is more common in dogs. 41% of students were aware of the incubation time.73% of students were aware of the symptoms of rabies. The study concluded that the knowledge on the awareness of rabies among dental students is moderately adequate.


Author(s):  
Thomas Gerhard Wolf ◽  
Ralf Friedrich Wagner ◽  
Oliver Zeyer ◽  
Duygu Ilhan ◽  
Tin Crnić ◽  
...  

Obtaining information on expectations among dental students regarding their career planning was the main purpose of this observational online survey. The questionnaire was designed with 18 items in five different languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Data were collected on nationality, age, sex, country of residence, university attended, semester, expected year of graduation and expectations about future career. More than 3000 participants (n = 3851, 2863 females 74.34% and 988 males 25.66% with a sex ratio of 0.35) participated in the survey. Almost one-third (31.29%) of the participants plan to start their own practice at least three years after vocational training, a quarter (25.76%) after three, and only 12.59% after one year. A positive influence of the family in the decision to start a practice was observed in 50.07% of the sample with a statistically significant difference regarding sex (p < 0.01). Almost one-third of the participants did not wish to work in an institution run by private equity or insurance companies, while 21.79% would work in that environment (p < 0.01). European dental students desire mainly to become self-employed and start their own practice. New professional practices also offer them options for their future career that they have not yet decided on or thought about.


Author(s):  
Aarthi Muthukumar ◽  
Revathi Duraisamy ◽  
Dhanraj Ganapathy

Nanotechnology is widely used in day to day life including its use in medicine. Using nanotechnology it is easy to analyse the atoms , chemical bonds and molecules present between various compounds. Use of nanoparticles in the field of dentistry is called nano dentistry. Chemical, physical and biological aspects of nanoparticles should be taken into account while choosing nanoparticles for the use in the field of nano dentistry. Nanoparticles are used in innovations of dentistry. Nano materials can be used for preventing and curing oral diseases such as oral cancer and to maintain oral health care. This study aims at evaluating knowledge and awareness of nanoparticles incorporated in dental materials among undergraduate dental students. A questionnaire with a set of 9 questions to assess the students knowledge and awareness about nanoparticles incorporation in dental materials. The sample size of 99 participants of dental students of Saveetha Dental College were selected by a simple random sampling method. The participants were asked to fill the questionnaire in an online site called survey planet. The results were collected and statistically analysed. Chi square test was done and it was found that 71% of the participants were aware about the use of nanoparticles in dental materials, even though it is statistically not significant (p value- 0.436), 73% of respondents were aware about nanoparticle incorporation in impression materials with p value 0.449 (not significant) and 72% were aware about use of nanomaterials in titanium implants(p value-0.340). Within the limitations of the study, it can be observed that the undergraduate students at the Faculty of Dentistry of Saveetha were well aware about the use of nanoparticles in dental materials.


Author(s):  
Russell Kabir ◽  
Samia Naz Isha ◽  
Mohammad Tawfique Hossain Chowdhury ◽  
Nazeeba Siddika ◽  
Shah Saif Jahan ◽  
...  

Background: Bangladesh has been attracting international students with interests in various subjects recently. Every year students from different parts of the world come to study undergraduate and postgraduate courses, mostly at private universities in Bangladesh. This study evaluates the depression status among international students who are studying dentistry in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among International undergraduate dental students who enrolled in the Bachelor of Dental Surgery program in nine public and private dental colleges in Bangladesh. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. A total of 206 students completed the survey where 78.5% of them were female students and 21.5% students were male, and a CES-D 10-item Likert scale questionnaire was used for data collection. The Cronbach alpha for the 10-item CES-D scale for this population is 0.812. Results: The majority of the students (79.5%) are below 24 years of age with a mean age of 23.22 years and standard deviation of 2.3, and are students who cannot communicate well in Bengali (Bangla), about 60% of them have experienced depression. About 77.3% (p < 0.00) of the international students having financial difficulties exhibited depression. The international students who went through financial problems were two times more likely to suffer from depression (OR = 2.38; p-value < 0.01). Conclusion: This study tried to highlight the struggles faced by international students in Bangladesh studying dentistry. It is evident from the findings that several factors influence students’ mental well-being during demanding dental education years.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-85
Author(s):  
Nadia Saleem ◽  

Background: The lockdown strategy has been implemented globally to contain the spread of current pandemic of COVID-19. Educational institutes around the globe are facing challenges and online learning is being carried out to avoid face to face contact during lockdown. Students have to adapt entirely new methods of learning through information technology. Objective: To assess the satisfaction level of health science students with online learning and use of internet during Covid-19 lock down in Punjab. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Settings: The data was collected from different institutes of Punjab using an online survey. Duration: Three months from May 2020 to July 2020. Methodology: A convenient sample of sample (N) 357 undergraduate medical students were included based on the response submitted through online questionnaire. Volunteer undergraduate students of MBBS, BDS, DPT, and Pharm D were included. The level of satisfaction was measure using Online Learning/Distance Education Questionnaire. Data was evaluated by SPSS version 22. Frequency tables and percentages was used to measure categorical variables. Results: 41 were males and 316 Females with mean age of 20.5±8.5. 15.6% Most of them had taken more than 03 courses online on computer for educational purpose. More than half students responded that they were motivated to attend online lectures. 23.52 % thought that they can pass any course is on internet-based study. 27.45% considered online and in physical classes as same. The access of internet was not issue for 50.98% students and 37.53% think that course can be completed online. Conclusion: The students were satisfied from online education during this time of transition of conventional classes to online classes. More than half of them felt no issue of internet and 37% think that course can be completed in this mode of education.


Author(s):  
Russell Kabir ◽  
Samia Naz Isha ◽  
Mohammad Tawfique Hossain Chowdhury ◽  
Nazeeba Siddika ◽  
Shah Saif Jahan ◽  
...  

Background Bangladesh has been attracting international students on various subjects in recent times. Every year students from different parts of the world come to study undergraduate and postgraduate courses, mostly at private universities in Bangladesh. This study evaluates the depression status among international students who are studying dentistry in Bangladesh. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted among International undergraduate dental students who enrolled in the Bachelor of Dental Surgery program in nine public and private dental colleges in Bangladesh. A total of 206 students completed the survey, and CES-D 10 items Likert scale questionnaire was used for data collection. The Cronbach alpha for CES-D 10 scale items for this population is 0.812. Results The majority of the students (79.5%) are below 24 years of age, and students who cannot communicate well in Bengali (Bangla), about 60% of them have experienced depression. About 77.3% (p&lt; 0.00) of the international students having financial difficulties exhibited depression. The international students who went through financial problems were two times more likely to suffer from depression (OR=2.38; p-value &lt;0.01). Conclusion This study tried to highlight the struggles faced by international students in Bangladesh studying dentistry. It is evident from the findings that several factors influence students' mental well-being during demanding dental education years.


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