Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Dental Curriculum Achievement by Undergraduate Dental Students in Taif University

Purpose/Objectives: The Bachelor of Dental Medicine and Surgery program at Taif University is a comprehensive six year program with one year of compulsory Field Experience. Many of the courses and Preclinical/clinical activities were conducted online in the academic year 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Aim of this study was to identify the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Dental curriculum achievement at Taif University. Methods: The scores and passing percentage of undergraduate dental students for the Academic year 2019-20 and 2020-21 were compared and analyzed. All courses were grouped into five categories- theoretical, theoretical-practical, theoretical-clinical, pure clinical and Interactive learning courses. A minimum of 60% aggregate score in each course was mandatory for a student to pass in the exam. Results: The results of all the exams were entered in SPSS, Version 21.0. The performance of the students were assessed and compared for both academic years using Chi square test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Considering the passing percentage of students, the performance of students in ‘Clinical’ courses was better in AY 2019-20 as compared to AY 2020-21. The difference in the mean scores for these two years was statistically significant across ‘theory+clinical’ category. Conclusion(s): The performance of students was much affected after the imposition of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, where the courses had clinical component. In rest of the categories, students performed better in AY2020-21. A hybrid mode of Dental Education may be beneficial.