Correlation between clinical clerkship achievement and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) scores of graduating dental students on conservative dentistry

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the effect of clinical clerkship-associated achievements, such as performance of procedures at the student clinic, observation, and attitude towards a clerkship, on the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) scores of dental students graduating in restorative dentistry. MATERIALS AND METHODS The OSCEs consisted of two stations designed to assess students' clinical skills regarding cavity preparation for a class II gold inlay and a class IV composite restoration. The clerkship achievements, consisting of the number of student clinical procedures performed, observation-related OSCE, and scores of their attitudes towards a conservative dentistry clerkship, were assessed. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS The correlation coefficient between the OSCE scores for cavity preparation for a class II gold restoration and clerkship attitude scores was 0.241 (p < 0.05). Regarding a class IV composite restoration, OSCE scores showed statistically significant correlations with the observation (r = 0.344, p < 0.01) and attitude (r = 0.303, p < 0.01) scores. In a multiple regression analysis, attitudes towards a clerkship (p = 0.033) was associated with the cavity preparation for a class II gold inlay OSCE scores, while the number of procedure observations (p = 0.002) was associated with the class IV composite restoration OSCE scores. CONCLUSIONS The number of clinical procedures performed by students, which is an important requirement for graduation, showed no correlation with either of the OSCEs scores.