Explaining the Understanding of the Experiences of Yazd Dentistry Faculty Members Regarding the Implementation of the General Dentistry Curriculum: A Phenomenological Study

Introduction: Since the educational curriculum is one of the main fields of education, it is necessary to use the best methods in design, implementation, and evaluation of its activities. One of the methods to maintain and improve the quality of education, in line with global growth, is the continuous evaluation of education and its related elements. Therefore, the present study investigates the opinions of the faculty members of Yazd Dental School regarding the general dentistry curriculum and the way it has been implemented. Methods: In this qualitative study, the required data was collected through semi-structured face- to-face interviews with the Dentistry Faculty Members (n=18), including 10 females and 8 males. After recording, the interviews were transcribed. Sentences from the text of the interviews related to the purpose of the study were extracted and classified. Data analysis was performed using theme analysis method. Results: By analyzing the content of the data extracted themes included the comprehensiveness of the curriculum, attention to need assessments and addition of new courses, inappropriate timing, lack of flexibility and lack of full implementation of the curriculum for reasons such as lack of facilities and educational spaces. Conclusion: In addition to the positive effects created by the curriculum revisions, significant challenges still remain and it seems that to improve the education of general dental doctorate students, it is better to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current curriculum. Then, by providing infrastructures, educational spaces, facilities, and specialized human resources , the future revisions of the curriculum could be done to maintain and strengthen positive points, and eliminate the weaknesses.