Factors Affecting Dental Students' Clinical Performance: A Study at Two Public Jordanian Universities

Objectives: This study investigated the impact of different factors that affected the dental students’ clinical performance at two public Jordanian universities (The University of Jordan (UJ) and Jordan University for Science and Technology (JUST)) in the academic year 2021/2022. Materials and Methods: This study’s sample consisted of (361) male and female dental students at their clinical years (4th and 5th years) from both universities. Survey approach was used and data-collection window was opened for 4 months. Survey was validated using face validity and content validity and Cronbach’s alpha internal-consistency test. Data collection was carried out through an online valid and validated questionnaire. The questionnaire covered 15 different factors and data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and independent-samples t-test. Results: Several student-related and institutional factors have shown impacts on the clinical performance of dental students. There was a statistically significant difference between genders, where female students were more adversely affected by the several factors than male students. Also, the results showed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to institution and year of study (4th year and 5th year). Factors associated with the institution roles, such as instructor’s attitude and time limitation, had greater impacts on the clinical performance of dental students than factors that are associated with dental students themselves. Conclusions: The study highlights the need to take students’ feedback into account to enhance their undergraduate clinical experience. Addressing university-related factors, such as the attitude of the supervisors in the student clinics, the time allocated for the students to finish clinical tasks, and the advisory help available for the students, are crucial for enhancing the quality of dental education.