The Perspectives of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Dental School Graduates

Background: The idea of establishing a Dental school at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) was borne out of a need. There was a shortfall in the supply of dental surgeons, especially in the northern half of the country. Aim/Objective: To seek for feedback from KNUST Dental school graduates over the past six about their overall assessment of the BDS courses taught during their clinical training and challenges faced in the course of their training. Methodology: A cross-sectional retrospective study of all KNUST Dental school graduates from 2012 to 2017. A structured goggle form questionnaire was developed. The Google form link was emailed to the representatives who in turn forwarded the link to their year mates. The questionnaire was filled online and submitted as requested. Results: This represented 63.0% of the entire graduates from KNUST Dental School. The male to female ratio was 1.3:1.0. The age range of our graduate was from 24 yrs (3.8%) to 32 years (1.9%). The average age was 26.3 years. 48.10% of respondents said their training was very good. The major challenges were inadequate clinical space (25.2%) and lack of materials and dental chairs for students’ clinic (27.3%). Conclusion: On the whole, the quality of the training was rated as very good even though some of the courses taught during the clinical training were rated as poor. Inadequate dental chairs, laboratory and clinic materials, supervision of student’s clinic were some of the major challenges expressed by the graduates.