Postgraduate dental education in Nigeria: professional knowledge self assessed in relationship to skills among resident dental surgeons in Nigerian teaching hospitals.
BACKGROUND
Improvement in any professional calling demands periodic assessment. The purpose of this study was to assess the professional knowledge in relation to skills of the resident dental surgeons in Nigeria in an attempt to contribute to their training needs analysis.


METHODS
A 33-item, self-evaluation one-page questionnaire focussing on their knowledge and skills in the different aspects of clinical dentistry was distributed to the residents in Nigerian teaching hospitals. Sixty-six residents consisting of 38 (57.6%) males and 28 (42.4%) females with age range of 27-46 years (mean 31.3 +/- 3.4 SD) completed and returned the questionnaires giving a 91.7% response rate.


RESULTS
The overall means for knowledge and skills of the residents were 70.1 +/- 13.8 (SD) and 67.3 +/- 12.0 (SD) respectively. Residents whose claims of professional knowledge and skills were found below average were 30 (45.5%) and 29 (43.9%) respectively. No statistically significant sex differences were found in the claimed knowledge and skills of the residents as well as in terms of their professional status (P > 0.05). The lowest grand means for knowledge and skills were found for orthodontics/paedodontics.


CONCLUSIONS
The study has shown that the resident dental surgeons in Nigeria claimed better professional knowledge than skills and needed most attention in orthodontics/paedodontics.
Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Medicine/University College Hospital, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
C O
CO
Onyeaso
E B
EB
Dosumu
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O
Obuekwe
D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003814:Dentistry, Operative / Q000193:education*; D004499:Education, Dental, Graduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009549:Nigeria; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires