The Viewpoints of Dentists Graduated from Babol Dental School about Their Professional Capability

Introduction: In order to achieve clinical education objectives, it is necessary to evaluate the educational situation continuously and identify its strength and weaknesses. The aim of this study was to determine dentists' opinion about their professional capability graduated from Babol Dental School. Methods: In a cross-sectional descriptive study, all dental students who had entered the university in 1997 and 1998 (n=45) filled a valid and reliable questionnaire including 97 questions about clinical training objectives. The data were analyzed by SPSS software using t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings: The total mean score was 132.2±20.11 out of 180. The lowest and highest scores belonged to periodontology and fixed prosthetics, respectively. The mean score of professional capability in males was more than females. There was no significant relationship between the mean score of capability and the year of entrance to the university, marriage status and quota of acceptance to the university. Conclusion: The students’ opinion about their professional capabilities showed their dissatisfaction from their acquired capabilities which in turn reveals the existence of some weaknesses in clinical educational methods.