Undergraduate dental education in Nigeria: perceptions of dental students and recent dental graduates.

Background: Students’ perception of their education is a subject that has received very little attention by those providing dental school education. This is more so in the Nigerian environment, where limited research has been carried out in dental education, particularly with respect to the students’ perspectives on the quality of training received.

Objective: Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the perceptions of dental students and recent dental graduates in Nigeria on their level of satisfaction with the quality of academic and clinical training received in their respective dental schools and the challenges faced in receiving this training.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out amongst 271 dental students and recent dental graduates from eight dental schools in the country. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Data collection was via self-administered questionnaires. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 17.

Results: The final study sample was made up of 239 students, with a mean age of 24.57 (2.21) years. The two dental specialties in which the least level of satisfaction was recorded with regard to the quality of academic training received were Conservative Dentistry and Orthodontics, while for clinical training they were Conservative Dentistry and Oral Biology/Pathology. The three most common factors which were adversely affecting the quality of clinical training received were, poor electricity supply, insufficient dental chairs and quality of training received.

Conclusion: Dental students and recent graduates of Nigerian Dental schools are not satisfied with the quality of undergraduate training received in some dental specialties at their respective dental schools.