Perceptions and Expectations of Academic Staff in Bucharest towards the COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Dental Education

Laura Iosif, Ana Maria Cristina Țâncu (), Andreea Cristiana Didilescu (), Marina Imre, Silviu Mirel Pițuru, Ecaterina Ionescu and Viorel Jinga
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Laura Iosif: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 17-21 Calea Plevnei Street, Sector 1, 010221 Bucharest, Romania
Ana Maria Cristina Țâncu: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 17-21 Calea Plevnei Street, Sector 1, 010221 Bucharest, Romania
Andreea Cristiana Didilescu: Department of Embryology, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 17-21 Calea Plevnei Street, Sector 1, 010221 Bucharest, Romania
Marina Imre: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 17-21 Calea Plevnei Street, Sector 1, 010221 Bucharest, Romania
Silviu Mirel Pițuru: Department of Professional Organization and Medical Legislation-Malpractice, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 17-21 Calea Plevnei Street, Sector 1, 010221 Bucharest, Romania
Ecaterina Ionescu: Department of Orthodontics and Dento-Facial Orthopedics, Faculty of Dentistry, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 17-21 Calea Plevnei Street, Sector 1, 010221 Bucharest, Romania
Viorel Jinga: Department of Urology, “Prof. Dr. Theodor Burghele” Clinical Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Șoseaua Panduri 20, Sector 5, 050653 Bucharest, Romania

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Dental education was severely challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. The evaluation of the viewpoint of the dental teachers of the Faculty of Dentistry at “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania, on these exceptional circumstances’ consequences was the objective of this paper. A cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2022, on the academic staff who reported their perceptions of the emotional and educational impact of the pandemic by completing a Google Forms questionnaire. Although a significant emotional impact of the pandemic was reported by over a third of the participants (31.2%), most of them being teachers of fifth-year dental students ( p = 0.019), the perceived stress had an impact on the teaching performance in few of them (14%), the quality of sleep remaining unaffected in most of them (53.7%), whereas the level of anxiety was low (57%). An educational impact regarding the techno difficulties during the online transition was mentioned by few respondents (16.1%), with male teaching staff facing the fewest problems ( p = 0.024), as well as low levels of difficulties in transmitting academic information (11.9), with men also being the most unaffected ( p = 0.006). More than half of the participants (59.1%) rather see digital and/or virtual education during the pandemic as having adverse effects on the educational system, the most sceptical being teachers of the fifth ( p = 0.001) and sixth years ( p = 0.001). The COVID-19 pandemic affected the academic staff of the Faculty of Dentistry at “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania, not only at a personal level but also at a professional, pedagogical one, due to the introduction of the online teaching system followed by the hybrid one. Age group, gender, and teaching year differentiated the degree of emotional and educational impairment.

Keywords: dental education; dental teachers; COVID-19 pandemic; teaching performance; manual skills; digital education; virtual dentistry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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