Evaluation of Clinical Students’ Perspectives and Satisfaction Levels on Practical Practices at the Faculty of Dentistry of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: It was aimed to reveal the perspectives and satisfaction levels of 4th and 5th grade-clinical students who go on practice education at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Dentistry in the 2020-2021 Academic Year. Methods: Within the scope of the study, 146 students in total, who did their face-to-face internship between October 5 and December 11, 2020, were asked to participate in an online survey with 10 questions. Clinical students were asked about their perspective on Covid-19 infection, whether they felt safe in their dental practice, their families’ level of anxiety about their internship, and whether they voluntarily chose dentistry. Results: According to the survey results; 15.1% of the students agree (TA), 27.4%agree (A), 37% partially agree (PA), 13% disagree (D) with the statement łI am pleased to have internships since the beginning of the termž 7.5% of them answered, łStrongly disagreež (SD). Pearson’s chi-square test was used in the statistical analysis of the answers given by 4th and 5th-grade students to the őrst 9 questions of the questionnaire consisting of the same questions. According to the survey results, it was also observed thatmost students chose the dentistry profession of their own will (TA 39%, A 36.3%, PA 13.7%). The number of students who think they feel safe in terms of infection control during their internship is 60% in total (TA 5.5%, A 17.1%, PA 37.7%). Conclusion: Despite the increasing number of cases until today, it is thought that the process has been successfully managed and that the students have gained experience in practical training, albeit limited.