Comparisons Between Preclinical and Clinical Dental Students’ Perceptions of the Educational Climate at the College of Dentistry, Jazan University

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the preclinical and clinical undergraduate dental students’ perceptions of their educational climate (EC). In addition it will be compared with other local and international studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Students enrolled in their third and fourth years (preclinical phase) and students in their fifth and sixth years (clinical phase) of the Bachelor of Dental Science at the University of Jazan, Saudi Arabia, were invited to complete a WhatsApp media survey, which included demographics and the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). This scale measured students’ overall perceptions of the EC in five domains: learning, teaching, academic self-perception, atmosphere, and social self-perception. Data were analyzed with Student’s t-tests and ANOVA to compare between and within groups. RESULTS: A total of 272 participants, 140 (51.5%) preclinical and 132 (48.5%) clinical students,took part in the study. Students were generally positive about their learning climate, with overall DREEM scores of 125.19 and 126.21 (preclinical) to 124.10 (clinical) out of a possible score of 200 phases. Student’s perceptions of teaching (26.18±3.24/72.72%) and atmosphere (28.08±5.29/63.82%) were the highest and lowest scores, respectively, and both scores were positive. CONCLUSION: No differences between the preclinical and clinical phases of the curriculum point to the structure of learning, teaching, academic, social self-perception in health professional degrees. Further research should investigate the weak points in the social and atmospheric climate.