Educational Status of Dental Basic Science Course and its Correlation with Students' Educational Background in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Basic science course plays a pivotal role in the academic achievement of the students. The scientific background and educational performance of the students are also influential in this period. The aim of the present study was to investigate the educational status of dental basic science course in the first three admissions (2009-2011) and its association with students’ educational background in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (KUMS).

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, all dental students admitted to school of dentistry in 2009-2011 years were included. The students’ academic background (scores, grade point average, score of comprehensive basic sciences examination (CBSE) were recorded. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent t-test.

Results: Kermanshah dental students admitted to university in 2009-2011 were mostly female (59.2%), belonged to regions 2 and 3 (81.6%) of university entrance exam, had sciences diploma (89.8%) and their grade point average of diploma was nearly 18. There was a significant difference between the three groups of students admitted to university in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Arabic, English language and Theology lessones of entrane exam (P<0.05). The  students’ failure rate was 1.5% in university coureses. They all (100%) passed CBSE and were ranked second nationally in the year. There was no significant difference between male and female students in terms of age, diploma grade point average, grade point average of basic sciences and score of CBSE.

Conclusion: Basic science courses of dentistry in Kermanshah enjoyed a rather constant status and students had a good academic level in these courses.