Exploring Professionalism among Final Year Dental Students and New Graduates: Translating Knowledge to Practice.

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Professionalism in Dentistry
• Ethics in Healthcare

Background:

• Professionalism is a cornerstone of dental practice, guided by international regulatory bodies.
• Assessing the perception and application of professionalism is crucial for dental education.
• Existing curricula may not adequately prepare students for real-world ethical and communication challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate dental students' and graduates' perception of professionalism.
• To assess their ability to apply professional knowledge in clinical scenarios.
• To identify gaps in professionalism education within the dental curriculum.

Main Methods:

• A survey assessed knowledge of professionalism domains in 146 participants.
• Participants observed clinical scenarios and answered related ethical, professional, and communication questions.
• Statistical analysis included ANOVA and t-tests to compare survey scores and scenario responses.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in professionalism knowledge scores were found across demographic groups.
• Significant correlations existed between different domains of professionalism.
• Participants scored significantly higher on the professionalism knowledge survey than on applying it in clinical scenarios.

Conclusions:

• Dental practitioners demonstrate a gap between theoretical knowledge of professionalism and its practical application.
• All assessed domains of professionalism contributed similarly to overall knowledge.
• Dental education requires innovative approaches, particularly in simulating real-life scenarios, to enhance practical professionalism skills.