JETHS- Volume 1 Issue -2 Sept - Dec 2014

Original Article

Pre-clinical test scores as a predictor of students' performance:

A retrospective study in final year BDS
Chahande Jaishree1, Deshmukh Saee2, Radke Usha3
1
Lecturer, 2Associate Professor, 3Dean
Department of Prosthodontics, VSPMDCRC, Hingna, Nagpur.

Drjai702@gmail.com

Abstract: .
Dentistry is a great combination of an art and science means skills with proper knowledge is the key of a successful
dentist. The present study was carried out in 40 students admitted to BDS course in the year 2009. The scores of these
students in second year university preclinical examination in subjects of Prosthodontics and Conservative dentistry were
compared with their scores in practical examination of same subjects in final year BDS. Also final year theory and practical
scores in both above mentioned subjects were compared. There was no correlation between the practical
(skill) and theory (knowledge) scores for two subjects; Prosthodontics and Conservative dentistry. There was no correlation
between second BDS preclinical practical scores and final year clinical practical scores in the subject of
Prosthetic and conservative dentistry. In the present study preclinical scores did not reflect the students' clinical
Performance at the end of curriculum. .

Keywords: Preclinical curriculum, Prosthodontic education, Correlation study.

Introduction: Health Sciences, pre-clinical exercises are

Dentistry is a great combination of an art and
science means skills with proper knowledge is the
key of a successful dentist. In many health
professions and in dentistry in particular, the
acquisition of psychomotor skills is highly
important for a successful professional (1). The
Dental Admission Test, which includes a hand
skills part, was introduced at the beginning of the
1950s and is still in use but with some
modifications. Several investigators found that
these tests have a moderate correlation value with
the subsequent clinical performance of the
students (2-4). Despite these dental school
admission tests, there are a number of students
who are unable to acquire the necessary dental
skills to complete the required projects during
their preclinical practical sessions in a timely
manner (5-9).
taught and assessed in second BDS. As students
progress through the dental curriculum,
knowledge is incrementally gained from
classroom, seminar, clinical, and peer
interactions. Manual skills development occurs
initially with simple preclinical bench-top
typodont procedures and progresses to
mannequin exercises before students enter clinics
(10).
The purpose of this study was to evaluate part
of preclinical curriculum by investigating
correlations between students' final scores in two
preclinical courses and their performance in the
related clinical courses.
Aims:

A dental curriculum is a four-year 1. To compare knowledge and practical skills of

opportunity for dental educators to progressively students in Prosthodontics and Conservative
develop a student's knowledge, skills, and Dentistry with their scores in second and final
attitudes with the hope of graduating a competent year.
beginning dentist. In Maharashtra University of

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 JETHS- Volume 1 Issue -2 Sept - Dec 2014
Original Article

Objectives: Results:

1) To compare scores of students in preclinical The mean scores are mentioned in Table 1.
examination for the subject of conservative
dentistry in second year BDS and clinical Table 1: Mean Scores
examination in the same subject in final year
BDS. Scores in subjects
Group N Mean Std.
Deviation
2) To compare scores of students in preclinical
examination for the subject of prosthetic dentistry Pre-clinical Practical 40 56.43 5.565
Prosthodontics
in second year BDS and clinical examination in Final year Practical 40 62.15 4.928
the same subject in final year BDS. Final Year Theory 40 56.5 5.22
3) To determine the correlation between scores Pre-clinical Practical 40 64.48 4.495
Conservative
of theory and practical in Final year BDS in the Final year Practical 40 57.73 2.764
conservative and prosthetic dentistry in final year Final Year Theory 40 58.7 5.51
BDS. There was no correlation between the practical
(skill) and didactic (knowledge) scores for two
Materials and Methods: subjects; Prosthodontics and conservative
dentistry ( Table2).
The sample consisted of 40 students at
VSPMDCRC, Nagpur who admitted to BDS Table 2: Statistical analysis to determine
course in the year 2009 and graduated in 2013. All association between the practical (skill) and
final grades used as data were obtained from the theory (knowledge) scores for two subjects
students' section and evaluated anonymously.
Students who repeated in any of these subjects
were eliminated from this study. This study had Prosthodontics FINAL YEAR Theory
two parts. The first part was designed to compare Pearson Correlation
0.177
final scores of students in preclinical examination
0.274
in Prosthodontics in second BDS and applying FINAL YEAR Practical Sig. (2-tailed)
same skills on patients in final year and in second N
40
BDS in conservative dentistry in class II cavity
Conservative dentistry FINAL YEAR Theory
preparation on phantom head and same skills on 0.250
patients about two years after in final year Pearson Correlation
university examination. This first part compares FINAL YEAR
Sig. (2-tailed)
0.120
Practical
the improvement in psychomotor skills of the 40
students after two years. N
The second part was to determine the
correlation between knowledge and skills by
comparing scores of theory and practical Table 3 shows, there was no correlation between
examination on patient in final BDS. This study second BDS preclinical practical scores and final
was reviewed and approved by Institutional year clinical practical scores in Prosthodontics
Ethics committee at VSPM Dental College and and conservative dentistry. This table describes
Research Centre, Nagpur. the descriptive statistical measures of mean,
standard deviations, standard error of mean, t-
Statistical Analysis: value and p-value of each group.

The Pearson correlation coefficient was used

for practical and theory of final BDS. Unpaired 't'
test was used for second year and final year
practical scores. Statistical analysis was
performed by using the SPSS software version
20.0.

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 JETHS- Volume 1 Issue -2 Sept - Dec 2014
Original Article

Table 3: Statistical analysis of association illumination etc. are difficult to manage and can
between second BDS preclinical practical affect the final outcome.
scores and final year clinical practical scores in Perform the exercise of cavity preparation and
two subjects. restoration in pre-clinics as well as on real patients
in final year. Although the exercise remains the
Group Statistics T value P value
same various patient related factors such as
Group N Mean Std. Std.
Deviation Error moisture control, patient's co-operation, access,
Mean
Pre-clinical
40 56.43 5.565
0.880 4.87 <0.001 therefore, in the present curriculum, in both
Marks Practical
(Prosthodontics) Final year
40 62.15 4.928 0.779
subjects there was no co-relation between pre-
Practical
Pre-clinical 0.711 8.01 <0.001 clinical and clinical scores.
40 64.48 4.495
Marks Practical
(Conservative) Final year
40 57.73 2.764 0.437
Practical Limitations:

Discussion:
The limitation of this study is that sample size
Tracking student performance in preclinical is restricted to one batch and only one institute.
and clinical courses can be helpful in developing Several variables may have confounded our
and refining a curriculum (10). Typodont- results viz., Performance of individual students
mounted manikins are typically used in the were not evaluated.
predoctoral dental curriculum to prepare students
to perform patient care procedures (11). The aim Remedial measures:
of this study was to investigate the accuracy and
precision of typodont usage for predicting student Teachers must work to improve the
performance on patients. The results of this study psychomotor skills of a student who cannot
indicate that students' clinical performance on a perform well in practical examination till in future
typodont is a poor predictor of their clinical this criterion of practical test may be implement in
performance on patients. These findings are universities for dental admission test.
consistent with, Arigbede et al (12) and Curtis et al
(10) who found no correlation between preclinical Conclusion:
typodont preparation examination and a clinical
competency examination. In the present investigation it was found that
preclinical scores cannot be taken as a predictor of
The reasons for this finding can be many. In clinical performance of students in the subject of
the subject of Prosthodontics, the preclinical conservative dentistry and Prosthodontics.
curriculum deals with laboratory steps in
fabrication of removable prostheses. However, in Acknowledgement:
the final year clinical examination, students have
to perform the step of final impression making or Dr. S. Gandhi.MDS, Public Health Dentistry,
jaw relation on real patient which involves VSPMDCRC, Nagpur. Dr. J. Nayase, Statistics
laboratory steps as well as patient management. Department, NKPSIMS, Nagpur.
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Original Article
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