Perspective of Faculty Members Regarding the Use of Logbook to Improve the Quality of Dental Education

This study aimed to assess the faculty members' perspective on the use of logbook to improve the quality of dental students’ education.

This descriptive analytical study assessed the perspectives of all faculty members of Qazvin Dental School about using logbook in 2019. A questionnaire with four domains: 1) necessity of using a logbook (score range: 7-21), 2) format design and logbook implementation process (score range: 8-24), 3) logbook content quality (score range: 20-60), and 4) method of completion of logbook (score range: 2-10) was used to assess. The internal consistency of the items was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha method (alpha-Cronbach: 0.81). Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 (p<0.05).

Of the faculty members, 19.4% were males and 80.6% were females, with a mean work experience of 6.81±5.3 years. The acquired mean total score was 18.72±2.57 out of 21 for the necessity domain, 15.33±2.78 out of 24 for the format design domain, 46.66±7.77 out of 60 for the content domain, and 8.00±1.43 out of 10 for the completion domain. Gender had a significant correlation only with the necessity domain score (P<0.05). Work experience had a significant correlation only with the completion domain score (P<0.05).

Over two-thirds of the faculty members agreed with the necessity of using a logbook and believed that its completion is highly important.