An early microvascular training program of dental intern students and junior residents: a comparative prospective study

BACKGROUND: Clinical instructional strategies and the climate in which teaching and learning take place have a significant impact on the quality of dental education. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of early microsurgery training on the skills of dental intern students who are planning to join an oral and maxillofacial surgical field (DIS) as compared with junior residents within an oral and maxillofacial surgery department who had no microsurgery experience (JR). METHODS: A total of 100 trainees, 70 were DIS, while the other 30 were JR. The average age was 23.87 ± 2.05 years for DIS group and 31.05 ± 3.06 for JR group. All trainees attended a microsurgical course (theoretical and practical parts) for seven days within a Microvascular Laboratory for Research and Education of a university-affiliated tertiary hospital. Two blinded examiners had assessed the performance of trainees independently using a specific scoring system. The independent sample t-test was used to compare the effect of microsurgery training between DIS and JR groups. The significance level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The DIS group had showed higher attendance rate than JR group (p < 0.01), with a lower absence score in DIS than JR groups (0.33 ± 0.58 vs. 2.47 ± 1.36). The total score of the theoretical test was significantly different between both groups (p < 0.01). In this context, the DIS group had revealed higher total score than JR group (15.06 ± 1.92 vs. 12.73 ± 2.49). In term of tissue preservation, there was a significant difference between both groups, with the DIS had better performance score than JR (1.49 ± 0.51 vs. 0.93 ± 0.59). Further, the practical exam score was significantly higher in DIS group than JR group (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Overall, the performance of dental intern students was favourably compared with junior residents in most aspects. Therefore, it is promising and essential for dental colleges to add a microsurgery course to the curriculum of dental intern students who plan to specialize in oral and maxillofacial surgery.