The Value of Oral Surgery Training in Secondary Dental Centers, Cross Sectional Study on Iraqi Intern Dentists

Background The undergraduate dental education curriculum aims to equip dental students with knowledge and skills for their professional lives.The Iraqi Ministry of Health has adopted a twomonth rotational module program in different dental specialties.This program provides clinical training for new dentists.However, the programs effectiveness is questioned due to the limited patient numbers and varied clinical procedures in various dental departments.Objectives The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the rotational program and its impact on dental trainees clinical practice and scientific knowledge.Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out during the period from February 2024 to February 2025.A Google Form was circulated to interim dental trainees in different secondary dental centers.Results The study included 205 dental graduates aged from 22 to 35.205 dental graduates ( 80 were male and 125 were female ).The subjects were between the ages of 22 and 35 years.Their general dental training ranged between 0 and 1.5 months.Most participants found their interim training period useful.However, they reported missing aspects of surgical training in impacted, surgical extraction, and more than one surgical training were missing.The study found no significant relationship between gender (P=0.086),time of training, or satisfaction (P=0.499) with their training.The study also found no significant relationship between gender and the duration of training (P=0.446).Also, there was no significant relationship between the university of graduation and the level of satisfaction (P=0.446).Conclusion Intern dentists are not quite satisfied with their undergraduate oral surgical training, whether in the government or private dental schools.They are, however, less satisfied with their undergraduate training.They expressed their wish for better training on surgical extractions and surgical removal of impacted teeth, though.These findings reflect that interim dentists consider their undergraduate training to be the cornerstone of their surgical knowledge.