Perception of faculty members on clinical learning objectives of undergraduate orthodontic curriculum

Abstract

Introduction: Contents related to knowledge and skills of orthodontics course for undergraduate dental program vary in dental schools. Currently there is no demarcation of contents related to skills of orthodontics course for undergraduate and postgraduate programme in Pakistan. This study aimed to perceive consensus of faculty members on orthodontic course contents associated with skills of “Treatment†required for undergraduate students.

Material and Methods: The study design was a cross sectional which was conducted at Islamic International Dental College, Islamabad. Learning objectives related to skills of orthodontic  were formulated in the form of a questionnaire with five point likert scale and sent to study participants (N=42) who were academicians at various dental colleges. The obtained data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20.

Results: Twenty participants (N= 20) responded on questionnaire. Out of twenty eight learning objectives, participants achieved consensus on 22 items associated with skills related to treatment for mixed dentition. Six items could not receive consensus which were related to fixed appliances and functional appliances.

Conclusions: Undergraduate students should have skills of history taking, oral examination, x-ray and removable appliances in orthodontic discipline. A further study is recommended to calculate students learning time (SLT) in this manner.