Dental Students’ Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Cross-Sectional Study from Norway

Ida Heitmann Løset, Torgils Lægreid and Ewa Rodakowska
Additional contact information
Ida Heitmann Løset: Department of Clinical Dentistry, Section of Cariology, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway
Torgils Lægreid: Department of Clinical Dentistry, Section of Cariology, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway
Ewa Rodakowska: Department of Clinical Dentistry, Section of Cariology, University of Bergen, 5009 Bergen, Norway

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to map dental students’ experience of the study situation throughout the pandemic. All clinical dental students (year 3 to 5) at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Dentistry (IKO), University of Bergen (UiB), Norway, were invited. Participation was anonymous and voluntary, and the response rate was 63%. Questions regarding stress-related factors were divided into three categories. In the category «Stressors/learning», a statistically significant difference was observed between both the genders ( p = 0.001) and years of study ( p = 0.028). Statistically significant differences between the genders were also observed in the category «Stressors/infection» ( p = 0.008). Women were significantly more stressed due to lack of clinical skills ( p = 0.048), not receiving as good theoretical teaching as before the pandemic ( p = 0.016), and uncertain issues around the exams ( p = 0.000). Fourth year students were significantly more stressed due to lack of clinical skills ( p = 0.012), for not passing the clinic/skills courses due to lack of study progression ( p = 0.005), and worries about not being a good enough dentist after graduation ( p = 0.002). In conclusion, the pandemic had a major impact on dental students. The most prominent stressors in relation to the study situation were experienced by students from the fourth year and female students. Clinical and theoretical learning outcomes among students were regarded as worse than before the pandemic. The students preferred in presence lectures, but experienced digital asynchronous video lectures as a good alternative. The pandemic negatively affected the students’ social life. Dental schools should be aware that students have been exposed to increased distress and burden through the pandemic and should provide support for those in need.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; stress; dental students; education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/3102/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/3102/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:3102-:d:765288

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().