Evaluation of student and faculty perceptions of the PBL curriculum at two dental schools from a student perspective: a cross-sectional survey

Problem-based learning (PBL) research has primarily highlighted issues related to medical education and less evaluation has been reported from the field of dental education. Furthermore, literature reports tend to focus mainly on PBL from a pedagogic and curriculum constructional view and up to this date, studies from a student perspective are lacking. The aim of this study was to approach the evaluation of student and staff perceptions of PBL curricula from a student perspective at two separate schools: the Faculty of Odontology at the University of Malmo, Sweden and the dental school of the University of Southern California, School of Dentistry (USCSD), Los Angeles, CA, USA. The study was initiated and conducted by two of the authors, at the time senior students at the Faculty of Odontology in Malmo, Sweden. The study was comprised of a literature search, a 2 week field trip to USCSD, USA, survey distribution to students and faculty in both schools, analysis of the data and a written report for oral defence. The results from the survey were intended to provide feedback on student and faculty perceptions regarding the PBL curriculum. The results indicate a general student and faculty satisfaction with the PBL curriculum. Perhaps, surprisingly their perceptions did not differ significantly despite differences in geography, culture and implementation of PBL pedagogy.