Dental Students' Perceptions of Clinical Transition

This was a cross-sectional observational study, qualitative in nature, with a non-probabilistic sample design. The sample consisted of third-year undergraduate dental students of both sexes from the São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araraquara (N = 46) with ages ranging from 19 to 25 years, and the majority (80.00%) being women compared to men (20.00%). This sample was chosen because these students went through the transition phase from preclinical to clinical training in the Restorative Dentistry II course. This course is annual and is taught in the first and second semester of the third year of the dental graduation course at the School of Dentistry of Araraquara. It is worth emphasizing that, as in the preclinical, in this transition phase, the students also carry out practical ergonomics training simultaneously with the clinical activities of the Restorative Dentistry course.
The research was conducted in the first week of the second semester, so the students would have already interacted with clinical activities and developed their perception of the transition phase.
This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Dentistry, Araraquara (CAAE Registry No. 90949018.6.0000.5416). A written informed consent was obtained from participants of this study.