| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2017 | Volume
: 15
| Issue : 3 | Page : 234-238 |
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Quantification of relative difficulty of public health dentistry and qualitative analysis of students' perspectives
Viswa Chaitanya Chandu, V Viswanath, Ajit Kumar Dabbiru, Vydehi Mullapudi, Srinivas Pachava
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Sibar Institute of Dental Sciences, Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Correspondence Address:
Srinivas Pachava
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Sibar Institute of Dental Sciences, Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, Takkellapadu, Guntur - 522 509, Andhra Pradesh
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jiaphd.jiaphd_58_17
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Introduction: The impression Public Health Dentistry (PHD) has created on the undergraduate dental students, which is evident from the disinterest shown toward the specialty in pursuing postgraduation is disheartening. Aim: The aim of this study is to quantify the relative difficulty of PHD compared to all other subjects in the final year undergraduate dental curriculum and to qualitatively analyze different aspects relating to the subject from students' perspective. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study involved collection of secondary data in the form of final year mark lists obtained from Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences' website. Mark lists of students appeared for final BDS examinations during February-March, 2016 and August 2016 were available and included in the study. The quantitative analysis was followed by administration of a semi-structured questionnaire to 246 house surgeons from three dental institutions in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Subject Pairs Analysis (SPA) was performed to quantify the relative difficulty of PHD, while Mann–Whitney U-test and Chi-square tests were performed to check the differences in relative difficulty scores, students' attitudes, respectively, based on student's gender, type of college, and availability of postgraduation in PHD in the respective colleges. Results: SPA revealed that only orthodontics and pedodontics were relatively easier compared to PHD, while all other subjects in the final year curriculum were relatively difficult. However, contrary to the quantitative results obtained, PHD was reported as the most difficult subject by 31% of the study participants. Differences were due to gender and availability of postgraduation in the specialty. Conclusion: There is a need to adopt new strategies in making the subject more interesting and understandable for students.
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