Do dental students regret the career choice because of COVID-19 pandemic?

Abstract

Objective: Dentists have high risk of being infected during COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the dental students' knowledge and anxiety levels, online education views and the rate of career choice regret associated with COVID-19. Methods: An online questionnaire was formed on Google docs and shared only with the dental students. Questionnaires were divided into three sections as knowledge about COVID-19, anxiety against pandemic and online education feedbacks. Mann-Whitney U Test and Spearman Rho correlation Analyses were used to analyze the relationship between knowledge and anxiety levels. Results: Knowledge level scores of the preclinical group were statistically significantly lower than the clinical group (P = .000; P < .05). Anxiety decreased as the level of knowledge increased. (r =-0,116, P = .007). 27.7% of the students regretted choosing dentistry and their anxiety score was found to be significantly higher than those who did not regret (P = .000; P < .05). Conclusion: The knowledge of dental students on COVID-19 is acceptable and it reduces the anxiety. Dental students should be educated about COVID-19 infection to reduce their anxiety and regret, as well as to make them more confident and conscious. Educational policies should be determined by considering the expecta-tions and demands of the students. © 2022, AVES. All rights reserved.