Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug;26(3):599-607.
doi: 10.1111/eje.12736. Epub 2021 Dec 15.

Impact of COVID-19 on dental education in Europe: The students' perspective

James Coughlan  1   2 , Daniela Timuş  2   3 , Tin Crnic  2   4 , Dora Srdoč  2   5 , Ciara Halton  2   6 , Irina F Dragan  7
Affiliations

Impact of COVID-19 on dental education in Europe: The students' perspective

James Coughlan et al. Eur J Dent Educ. 2022 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic impacted dental students and postgraduate residents world-wide, forcing them to rapidly adapt to new forms of teaching and learning. Dental school leaderships needed to ensure the academic continuity, therefore the majority of the in-person actives were transitioned into a virtual setting. The aim of this study was to identify students' perception regarding the measures taken to adapt during the pandemic by different dental schools in the European Region.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study utilised a validated 37 questions survey. Ethical approval was obtained from the Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Using this instrument, the perceptions of the European dental students regarding the impact of COVID-19 on their education and mental health were identified. The questions were divided into categories: standard demographic information; models of education during the COVID-19 pandemic (types of teaching, examination and other educational activities) and support received. The survey was administered through electronic online tools, and all responses remained confidential. The data were processed through quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Results: A total of 879 student responses to the survey from 34 countries in the European Region were included in this study. When asked about the time spent on their education, 50% of the participants (n = 435) reported spending less time on their education and 30% (n = 265) reported spending more time. The types of teaching included showed a heterogeneous approach, varying from online simulations to problem solving for the didactic setting, or a hybrid model with group activities for the clinical setting. There were broad splits in satisfaction with the education delivered, with 44% (n = 382) being either satisfied or very satisfied and 31% (n = 279) being either unsatisfied or very unsatisfied. Students were most concerned with their clinical experience and skills.

Conclusions: The qualitative and quantitative data compiled in this cross-sectional study enable a direct comparison between different approaches to adapt dental education during the COVID-19 in the European Region. Future studies are recommended that will include compiling perceptions from the staff, faculty and administrators on the transition as well.

Keywords: COVID-19; dental education; dental student; perception.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Accessed August 31, 2020. en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse
    1. Sahu P. Closure of Universities Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): impact on education and mental health of students and academic staff. Cureus. 2020;12(4):e7541.
    1. Webster J, Hackley P. Teaching effectiveness in technology mediated distance learning. Acad Manage J. 1997;40:1282-1309.
    1. Miller GE. The assessment of clinical skills/competence/performance. Acad Med. 1990;65:63S-67S.
    1. Quinn B, Field J, Gorter R, et al. COVID-19: the immediate response of european academic dental institutions and future implications for dental education. J Dent Educ. 2020;00:1-4.

LinkOut - more resources