학제에 따른 일부 치위생(학)과 학생의 치과위생사 전문직업성에 대한 자기인식 평가

This study focused on dental hygiene students" self-assessment and on dental hygienist professionalism. Data regarding students" self-perception on dental hygienist professionalism were collected from dental hygiene students currently enrolled in associate degree or bachelor"s degree programs and then analyzed. The results were as follows: The overall self-assessment score of the dental hygiene students participated in the study were 3.02 in terms of knowledge, 3.16 in terms of professional skills, and 3.59 in terms of attitude. The perceived professional knowledge levels among students in different degree programs showed statistically significant difference as the values were 3.07 and 2.97 in associate degree students and bachelor"s degree students, respectively(p=0.01). Among the three areas, students perceived higher knowledge levels as their academic years advanced from freshman year to senior year, and this difference was statistically significant(p These results indicate that dental hygiene students tend to have less than satisfactory perception level of dental hygiene professionalism, and this in turn demonstrates urgent needs for educational improvements and other approaches required for increasing students" confidence in terms of professional knowledge and skills.