Students Perception on an Integrated Teaching at a Private Dental College, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Pakistan Medical and Dental Council(PM&DC) recommends integrated teaching, which enhances students’ knowledge, skills and attitude, links the concepts of basic and clinical disciplines and ensures early exposure to patients to be introduced in undergraduate medical/dental education.

Objective: The current study is undertaken to identify students’ perception regarding integrated teaching at a private dental college in Pakistan.

Study Design: Descriptive, Cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: HBS Dental College, 04 months (March-July 2023).

Material and Methods: All students (n=150) of the second, third and final year BDS were enrolled in the study. The response rate was 87%. A pre-validated, three-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to gather students’ feedback.

Results: Total 130 undergraduate dental students participated in the study. The majority of the students gave a positive response towards the course content, teaching & learning and assessment methods in the integrated teaching. Approximately half of the students (50.7%) responded that learning resources were adequate and timetables were properly sequenced and well structured. The majority of students positively perceived that integrated teaching improves their application of knowledge (80.7%), logical thinking (77.7%), active interaction (84%), and motivation (73.8%). Besides this, most of the students also considered this method of teaching time-consuming and resource-demanding.

Conclusion: Dental students appreciated and preferred integrated teaching over traditional teaching. It is high time to incorporate integrated teaching throughout the undergraduate dental program. At a local level, this feedback and strategy can be utilized to provide an improved integrated educational experience to the students of HBS Medical & Dental College.