Evaluation of Clinical Students' Perspectives and Satisfaction Levels on Practical Practices at the Faculty of Dentistry of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Aim: It was aimed to reveal the perspectives and satisfaction levels of 4th and 5th grade-clinical students who go on practice education at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Dentistry in the 2020-2021 Academic Year. Methods: Within the scope of the study, 146 students in total, who did their face-to-face internship between October 5 and December 11, 2020, were asked to participate in an online survey with 10 questions. Clinical students were asked about their perspective on Covid-19 infection, whether they felt safe in their dental practice, their families' level of anxiety about their internship, and whether they voluntarily chose dentistry. Results: According to the survey results; 15.1% of the students agree (TA), 27.4% agree (A), 37% partially agree (PA), 13% disagree (D) with the statement “I am pleased to have internships since the beginning of the term” 7.5% of them answered, “Strongly disagree” (SD). Pearson’s chi-square test was used in the statistical analysis of the answers given by 4th and 5th-grade students to the first 9 questions of the questionnaire consisting of the same questions. According to the survey results, it was also observed that most students chose the dentistry profession of their own will (TA 39%, A 36.3%, PA 13.7%). The number of students who think they feel safe in terms of infection control during their internship is 60% in total (TA 5.5%, A 17.1%, PA 37.7%). Conclusion: Despite the increasing number of cases until today, it is thought that the process has been successfully managed and that the students have gained experience in practical training, albeit limited.