Strides in Development of Medical Education

Document Type : Brief report

Authors

1 PhD in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Oral and Dental Diseases Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

2 PhD in Radiology, Associate Professor, Department of Oral Radiology, School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

3 Resident of Orthodontics, Depratment of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

4 Dentist, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Background & Objective: Exam anxiety is a significant problem among university students and can be accompanied by a decline in performance and severe psychological problems This study was designed to investigate exam anxiety levels among dental students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences Iran in 2013 Methods: This descriptive crosssectional study was conducted on dental students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences The participants were selected using census method The data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of the 20item standard Exam Anxiety Questionnaire (Spielberger) demographic characteristics causes of anxiety methods of decreasing exam anxiety and exam method Data were analyzed using SPSS software and linear regression and Student s ttest Results: Of the participants 5657% were men their mean age was 227 ± 218 and 3771% lived with their parents The mean score of the exam anxiety questionnaire was 4729 ± 1057 the maximum score being 80 The first activity during leisure time was exercising (30%) and fear of failure was the first cause of exam anxiety Theoretical final exams were the cause of the exam anxiety in 5490% of participants Seeing friends was the most common method of decreasing anxiety There was no significant correlation between mean exam anxiety score and sex age academic year marriage status and academic performance A significant correlation was observed between area of residence and mean exam anxiety score Conclusion: Based on our findings dental students had varying degrees of exam anxiety Thus we recommend the training of exam anxiety reduction methods during the course of the term by professionals

Keywords

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