The extra value of training dental students in surgical skills

In 2010, the revised 3-year master’s programme was introduced in the Netherlands, which meant that the full programme of dental education was extended to 6 years. In Nijmegen, this was structured to include a set of profile programmes, next to the existing curriculum. Three profiles were chosen, one of which was the Surgical Profile. The aim of this programme was that the more complex procedures and the treatment of medically compromised patients would be carried out by those students in the 6-year educational programme who participated in the Surgical Profile. The experiences of students following this profile were evaluated by means of a questionnaire. In a second questionnaire, distributed 1 year after the students had graduated, respondents were asked whether they were still making use of the skills that they had been taught. The conclusion was that the training of master’s students in dental surgery results in a high degree of satisfaction. The study revealed moreover that 93% of the students who completed the Surgical Profile put the skills they had been taught to use during the first year as dentists and even wanted to build on that knowledge by means of relevant post-graduate courses.