Assessment of effectiveness of oral medicine course for medical students: A presurvey and postsurvey evaluation

The dental education for the medical students is very important and a necessary part for the comprehensive medical education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the new initiative of oral medicine course by evaluating medical students’ perspectives via a presurvey and postsurvey evaluation. Forty-five fourth-year medical students of MacKay Medical College enrolled in the course of “oral and maxillofacial medicine” were invited to fill in an anonymous online presurvey regarding their cognition for basic knowledge of the oral medicine and the estimated learning time for the class. An anonymous online postsurvey using the presurvey questions with added questions on medical students’ attitude toward the independent learning for the oral medicine course. Of the 45 medical students, 27 (60 %) and 45 (100 %) participated in the online presurvey and postsurvey, respectively. The results showed that all respondents found the oral medicine course to be helpful in raising their basic knowledge of the oral medicine. For all questions, the mean scores significantly increased 2.58–2.73 after the oral medicine class (all P -values <0.001). In this study, the oral medicine course contributed to an increase in students' basic knowledge of the oral medicine and their awareness and understanding of the importance of the independent learning for the oral medicine. Considering the reported effectiveness of the oral medicine course on medical students’ basic knowledge and attitude of the oral medicine, this model shows promise for further use in other medical institutions.