Citation Information :
Almasri MA. Evaluation of the Perception of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery among Other Dental Specialties in King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. World J Dent 2022; 13 (2):144-147.
Aim and objective: To find out if junior dental students perceive OMFS as a subject of importance in the dental school as well as the stand of other dental specialties.
Materials and methods: 531 students of 2nd, 3rd, 4th years, were selected from King Abdulaziz University (KAAU), college of dentistry, for data collection. The senior years of 5th, 6th, and internship were excluded. A survey was conducted, which consisted of questions related to participants’ demographic characteristics and their career priorities. Participants’ responses were analyzed using the Chi-square test and was validated with Cronbach's alpha and binary regression analysis.
Results: The findings showed that most of the students perceived general dentistry as the most important subject of study (76%), while, Orthodontics and OMFS came second (60%). On the contrary; forensic dentistry and oral radiology were found to be significantly under-estimated (20% and 26%, respectively), as the majority of the students found those subjects not to be of any importance. Cronbach's Alpha test proved that the obtained results were reliable results between the variables.
Conclusion: Dental students perceived OMFS as an important topic among other dental specialties, while perceived forensic dentistry and oral radiology as of not important. However, it is clear that junior dental students considered general dentistry to be the main area of focus and interest. Such might indicate that precollege orientation program is needed to clarify the importance of different specialties as well as the future career line afterword.
Clinical significance: The comprehension of different dentistry lines is needed among dental students. Such can be accomplished via pre and intra-college orientation programs.
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