Reliability of didactic grades to predict practical skills in an undergraduate dental college in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES This longitudinal study was aimed to investigate the association between didactic grades and practical skills for dental students and whether didactic grades can reliability predict the dental students' practical performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS Didactic and practical grades for graduates from the Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, between the years 2009 and 2011 were collected. Four courses were selected: Dental Anatomy, Operative Dentistry, Prosthodontics, and Orthodontics. Pearson product-moment correlation analyses between didactic and practical scores were conducted. RESULTS There was only a significant correlation between didactic and practical scores for the Dental Anatomy course (P<0.001). There was also a significant correlation between all four subjects in the didactic scores (P<0.001). Only the scores of male students showed a significant correlation in the Operative Dentistry course (P<0.001). There were no correlations between Orthodontic grades. Moreover, a poor degree of reliability was found between didactic and practical scores for all subjects. CONCLUSION Based on the findings of this study, the relationship between didactic grades and practical performance is course specific. Didactic grades do not reliably predict the students' practical skills. Measuring practical performances should be independent from didactic grading.