Association of admissions factors with student performance in preclinical operative dentistry

Admission to dental school is based on various factors including academic achievements in undergraduate coursework and the Dental Admission Test (DAT) scores. Students' success in an operative course requires fundamental knowledge, hand skills, spatial awareness, and self-assessment ability. The goal of this study is to evaluate how admissions factors, such as Grade Point Average (GPA) and DAT, including the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), relate to students' academic and preclinical performance and self-assessment skills in preclinical operative dentistry.

A total of 239 students were included from seven class years (2016-2022). Third-year dental students participated in a preclinical operative dentistry course. At the end of the course, they took the final multiple-choice exam and performed four competency examination procedures: Class II amalgam preparation and restoration and Class III resin-composite preparation and restoration. Calibrated faculty graded students' work independently and students also self-assessed their performance using the same rubrics as faculty. Linear regressions were performed to estimate the association between the admission factors with the mean faculty scores (measuring preclinical performance), student-faculty (S-F) gap scores (evaluating self-assessment skills), and their final didactic exam scores.

Overall, students' self-assessment was higher compared to faculty score. Linear regression analysis demonstrated positive correlations between the PAT and students' preclinical performance as well as between the DAT and their didactic exam scores. In general, S-F gap score decreased as PAT score increased, and it was statistically significant lower for the Class III preparation, indicating a better self-assessment skill. No correlations were observed between student performance and GPA scores.

The findings from the association between student performance and admission factors may play an important role in the dental school admissions process and assist students who may benefit from early faculty intervention and support.