Students' perceptions of their education on graduation from a dental school in India

This study was conducted with the purpose of assessing students' perceived learning experience at the time of graduation from a dental school in India. The domains appraised were undergraduate curriculum, student motivation and support services, institutional infrastructure, administrative services, components of teaching-learning programs, confidence level in carrying out specific clinical procedures, career choice, and postgraduate specialty preference after graduation. The authors surveyed forty-five dental interns at the end of their undergraduate course, a 100 percent response rate from the class. The results showed that over 95 percent of the graduates were satisfied with the curriculum and 60 to 95 percent reported that the various components of the teaching-learning process were adequate. Only 42 percent of the students were confident about setting up a practice; 65 percent wished to take a course on general dentistry; and 86 percent wanted to pursue postgraduate study. The principal conclusions were that although the program was satisfactory to the majority of participants, some areas of concern were identified that need improvement.