The Necessity of Updating Microbiology Education Based on Mashhad Dentistry Students’ Points of View

Given the importance of education and its undeniable role in the development of societies, it is necessary for educational programs to be fully investigated regarding the ultimate objectives. Based on the importance of students as the best source for identifying the weak and strong points of education, the present study aims at investigating Mashhad dentistry students’ points of view regarding the education of Microbiology including Bacteriology and Virology. This is a cross-sectional study carried on 49 students of basic sciences of Dentistry in 2014. Students’ opinions, the satisfaction of educational needs, clinical relationship, professional practice of education, and the need of future reviewing for courses were studied through a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed. Data were analyzed through SPSS 23 and the significance level was considered as p<0.05. Seventeen participants (%34.7) were males. The mean age was 19.76 ± 1.13 years. The highest scores (4.2 ± 0.9 & 4.1 ± 0.6) were obtained by two items of “The necessity of course modification adaptable with Dentistry field” and “Teaching of MD professors results in the relationship between basic and clinical sciences”. The lowest score (2.4 ± 1) was obtained by “The necessity of course modification adaptable with job needs of dentists”. As indicated by the results of the present study obtained through students’ opinions, the content of the curriculum is not adaptable to students’ future needs. This problem can be resolved by reviewing the current curriculum. Keywords: Microbiology, Dentistry, Education