Impact of peer-assisted early clinical exposure on learning in dental students

Background: Early clinical exposure (ECE) would augment the clinical education quality in dental students. Although ECE has been practicing to reinforce learning, it has certain limitations. Mainly restrictions on resources due to inappropriate student-teacher ratio owing to less no of trained faculty in the department. The student-centered teaching method such as peer-assisted learning (PAL) can be used as a supporting modus operandi in the deliverance of the curriculum at the undergraduate level to augment the learning by ECE. Materials and Methods: The study population includes a cohort of 100 Students of I Bachelor of Dental Sciences (BDS) and 25 Students of II BDS. From I BDS, 50 students (Group A = experimental group) were selected as cases and 50 as controls (Group B = control group) by the simple random sampling. Twenty-five students were selected from II BDS on the basis of performance scale (high achievers) as peers. (Group A) students were exposed to the ECE module which was assisted by peers as an enhancement to didactic teaching-learning. Control group (Group B) students were exposed to conventional ECE, which is facilitated by faculty members/teachers. After the intervention, both the groups were evaluated for knowledge, skills, and attitude as posttest. Results: The significantly enhanced posttest score was observed in Group A (7.46 ± 1.32) as compared to Group B (3.98 ± 1.59). The mean objective structured practical examination score in Group A was improved as compared to Group B and the difference between them was also found statistically significant (P = 0.00). Conclusion: Peer-assisted ECE could be a better teaching-learning methodology than traditional teaching for dental students in the Indian Scenario.