Perceptions of Freshman Dental Students Regarding Academic Environment

Background: Quality of future dental workforce is passively determined by their perceptions to curriculum and academic environment. Aim: The aim of the study is to know the anticipations of the freshly joined dental students about their educational environment using Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire and comparing it after the completion of the 1st year. Materials and Methods: This was a longitudinal study conducted in a private dental institute. DREEM questionnaire was given to 84 freshman students on the day of joining institute and after completion of 1 year. The Statistical Package for the Social Science, version 21 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for analysis of data, and 95% confidence interval was used for analysis of data. Mean and standard deviation were calculated. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare overall mean DREEM scores, subscales scores, and individual scores on two occasions. Level of statistical significance was set at P <= 0.05. Results: Mean DREEM score on the first occasion was 147.8 and completion of the 1st year was 124.6 with a discrepancy of 23.2. Conclusions: Students have positive perceptions for their academic environment at the time of joining institute and after completion of 1 year in the institute with DREEM score obtained was above 101 (indicating more positive than negative environment) on both occasion.