Perception, attitude, and preference of trainees towards workplace-based assessment in dental education at a tertiary care institute in Multan, Pakistan

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Fatima, Saman^a | Ul Abideen, Malik Zain^a | Siddiqui, Ammar A.^b | Khan, Faris Farooq Saeed^c | Gillani, Syed Wasif ^d | Hussain, Muhammad Waqar^e | Alam, Mohammad Khursheed^f | Rathore, Hassaan Anwer^{g; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Dental Education, College of Dentistry, Bakhtawar Amin Medical and Dental College, Multan, Pakistan | [b] Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Dentistry, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | [c] Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan | [d] Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates | [e] Department of Prosthodontics, College of Dentistry, Bakhtawar Amin Medical and Dental College, Multan, Pakistan | [f] Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Dentistry, Jouf University, Sakaka, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | [g] Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Hassaan Anwer Rathore, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar. E-mail: hrathore@qu.edu.qa.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Modern medical education has flourished with an emergent interest in a variety of assessment approaches that entails direct observation of performance and provision of feedback. Workplace-based assessment (WPBA) has been embraced into specialty training in the United Kingdom (UK) within National Health Service (NHS). In Pakistan, this educational framework is incorporated to gauge the clinical proficiency of trainees at the postgraduate and undergraduate levels. The present study was done to identify how WPBA is perceived by dental field postgraduate trainees in Pakistan. OBJECTIVE:The study explored and ascertained trainees’ perceptions, attitudes, and preferences considering their experiences with the systematic organization and execution of WPBA in dental educational settings. METHODS:This cross-sectional study design involved the clinical trainees of various cadres in a tertiary care hospital in Multan. A structured and validated questionnaire previously used for another analysis was administered among 90 trainees at the institute. The results were analyzed and tabulated using SPSS-21. Influential statistics (Pearson’s Chi-Square Test) was performed and the confidence interval was set at 95% (P≤0.05). RESULTS:The response rate was 88%. Opinions were more positive compared to the former surveys. The majority of the respondents (65.8%) have shown a positive attitude towards WPBA and preferred it to be a valuable assessment system as it fosters reflective practices in educational settings. In addition, it was shown that WPBA has the potential to improve clinical training (72.2%) and aid in the effective implementation of clinical practice (68.4%). As the system of digital education has been introduced ever since the pandemic, the highest percentage of participants (56%) preferred a combination of on-paper and online assessment systems. CONCLUSION:The study reported that WPBA proposes the opportunity to associate teaching, learning, and assessment. The faculty training program is a significant input to upholding the quality of WPBA. Empirical research on WPBA is essential to be carried out to overcome the inadequacies thus endorsing its application universally.

Keywords: Medical and dental education, attitude, perception, preference, trainees, workplace-based assessment

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-220132

Journal: Work, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 703-710, 2023