Degree sans internship: Worthy or waste Sadana Gunmen, Professor & Head, Walia Satinder S., Assistant Professor, Cheema Jaskiran, Intern, Khaira Harveen, Intern, Singh Prabhnavroop, Intern Address for Correspondence: Dr. Gunmeen Sadana, Professor & Head, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, SGRD Dental College, Sri Amritsar E-mail: drgunmeen_sadana@yahoo.in
Online published on 28 May, 2014. Abstract Aim To highlight the importance of internship in improving the quality of dental education. Introduction Since establishment of dentistry, a gradual reevaluation of both philosophy and practice of dentistry has taken place that allows dental professionals to connect globally and collaborate with other professionals. The dental curriculum with internship program creates not just good clinicians but also leaders in field of dental medicine able to meet the needs of its growing population. Materials and Method The study was conducted in 13 colleges enrolled under Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and Research (BFUHS), Punjab. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed randomly among students, interns and staff. Out of three hundred, two eighty one of the study population responded. Results Out of the total study population, 80.22% of the students preferred for 1 year of internship, whereas 90.0% of the staff says internship period should be of 9 months. Almost 100.0% of the staff agrees that internship affects the confidence of the student Conclusion The present study shows that majority of students and staff considers internship as an important part of dental curriculum. Thus internship with dental curriculum equips the professionals to deal with challenges of tomorrow. Top Keywords Internship, dental curriculum, clinical skills, invaluable experience, stress, selfconfidence. Top |