Early Online Developing time management skills of undergraduate students undertaking second- and third-year level dental clinical-based training
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background. Developing time management skills is an essential yet under-reported aspect of dental undergraduate training. Additionally, there is a paucity of studies that have examined how time management skills developed in undergraduate dental curricula.
Objectives. A targeted curricula review was conducted to identify expressions of time management across the theoretical, preclinical and clinical aspects of the training programmes. In addition, the study compared the extent to which second- and third-year students developed their clinical time management skills.
Methods. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data was used. Phase 1 included a document analysis using a data extraction sheet to capture curricular documents comprising 25 dental therapy and 25 oral hygiene modules. Data were analysed using content analysis. Phase 2 included a self- administered questionnaire to collect data from the identified students (N=90). Both closed and open-ended questions were included. Inferential and descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data.
Results. Phase 1: Two themes emerged from the curriculum review. Explicit statements on time management were in one first-year module, i.e. Academic Skills and Clinical Practice. This module included statements on time management skills and educating students on how to be productive in managing their time at university. Implicit statements on time management were in modules named Clinical Practice in Prevention 1 and 2, and Clinical Practice in Oral Hygiene 1 and 2. These modules indicated that students’ time management skills were required for patient management and complete clinical portfolios. Phase 2: The 3rd-year cohort developed higher time management scores (mean 2.91) than the 2nd-year (mean 2.81), signifying a statistically significant relationship (p=0.049). Two major themes emerged from the analysis of the open-ended questions. Participants expressed that time management enabled them to plan, prepare and be punctual and organised to accomplish their clinical tasks. Participants identified the following factors: knowledge of clinical procedures, students’ commitment to learning, patient consultation form, punctuality and cooperation of patients, and the waiting period to use radiographic equipment.
Conclusion. Students’ time management skills appear to be developed implicitly in the curricula and mainly through clinical training exposure. Curriculum developers can ensure that time management skills are explicitly expressed in all levels of undergraduate curricula. This would encourage students to consciously develop and apply such skills as part of preclinical and clinical training.
Downloads
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The AJHPE is published under an Attribution-Non Commercial International Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License. Under this license, authors agree to make articles available to users, without permission or fees, for any lawful, non-commercial purpose. Users may read, copy, or re-use published content as long as the author and original place of publication are properly cited.
Exceptions to this license model is allowed for UKRI and research funded by organisations requiring that research be published open-access without embargo, under a CC-BY licence. As per the journals archiving policy, authors are permitted to self-archive the author-accepted manuscript (AAM) in a repository.
How to Cite
References
1. Abass SHZ, Shalaby SF. Investigating time management habits and its related factors among medical sciences faculty students. Egyptian J Health Care 2021;12(3):1282-1291. http://dx.doi.org/10.21608/ejhc.2021.195261
2. Abraham RR, Velladath SU, Elman ZEBE, et al. Exploring time management skills of first year undergraduate
medical and allied health science students. J Clin Diagn Res 2018;12(10):7-10. https://doi.org/10.7860/ jcdr/2018/37174.12082
3. Rashid A, Sharif I, Khan S, Malik F. Relationship between time management behavior and academic performance of university students. J Business Soc Rev Emerging Economies 2020;6(4):1497-1504. https://doi.org/10.26710/ jbsee.v6i4.1481
4. Cândida A, Dupas G, Grande AJ, Pereira I. Dentists’ soft skills: A scoping review. Discover Education 2024;3(1):1- 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00281-w
5. Orr RB, Csikari MM, Freeman S, Rodriguez MC. Writing and using learning objectives. CBE—Life Sci Educ 2022;21(3):1-6. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.22-04-0073
6. Aeon B, Aguinis H. It’s about time: New perspectives and insights on time management. Academy Management Perspectives 2017;31(4):309-330. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2016.0166
7. Claessens BJC, van Eerde W, Rutte CG, Roe RA. A review of the time management literature. Personnel Review 2007;36(2):255-276. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710726136
8. Borbon NFD. Time management, learning motivation and academic performance of dentistry students. RANGSIT J Soc Sci Hum 2021;8(2):1-17.
9. Mathur N, Verma A, Patyal A. Time management skills: Early sensitization among first-year medical undergraduates. Adesh Uni J Med Sci Res 2021;3(1):41-45. https://doi.org/10.25259/aujmsr_14_2021
10. Koshy E, Chandrasekharan Nair K, Dathan P, et al. Competency based dental education - a narrative review. Acta Sci Dent Sci 2024;8(8):74-83. https://doi.org/10.31080/ASDS.2024.08.1877
11. Lluch AM, Lluch C, Arregui M, Jiménez E, Giner-Tarrida L. Peer mentoring as a tool for developing soft skills in clinical practice: A 3-year study. Dent J 2021;9(5):1-9. https://doi.org/10.3390/dj9050057
12. Behdarvand M, Ahmadi M, Khajeali N. Perceived clinical competence and predictive role of time management in nursing students. Nurse Educ in Prac 2023;72(1):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2023.103789
13. Naidoo M, Brijlal P, Cader R, Gordon NA, Rayner CA, Viljoen K. Development of a competency-based clinical assessment instrument for exit level oral hygiene students at the University of Western Cape. BMC Oral Health 2022;22(1):1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-022-02498-3
14. Bhayat A, Chikte U. Human resources for oral health care in South Africa: A 2018 update. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019;16(10):1-10. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101668
15. Masetla MM, Mthethwa S. Future plans of final-year dental therapy students at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. South African Dent J 2021;76(10):587-592. https://doi.org/10.17159/2519-0105/2021/v76no10a1
16. Roshanay A, Janeslätt G, Lidström-Holmqvist K, White S, Holmefur M. The psychometric properties of the
original version of assessment of time management skills (ATMS). Occupational Therapy I 2022;1-9. https://doi.
org/10.1155/2022/6949102
17. MukwevhoMH.Timemanagementchallengesonstudents’academicperformance:Acasestudyofaruraluniversity in Limpopo Province, South Africa. J Gender, Information and Development in Africa 2018;S1(1):225-241. https://doi.org/10.31920/2050-4284/2018/s1n1a12
18. Patterson RC, Jones JR. Developing time management with preclinical dental students via a preclinical exercise in an organization. J Dent Educ 2023;87(9):1-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.13246
19. Mukhalalati B, Elshami S, Eljaam M, Hussain FN, Bishawi AH. Applications of social theories of learning in health professions education programs: A scoping review. Frontiers in Medicine 2022;9(1):1-15. https://doi. org/10.3389/fmed.2022.912751
20. Oderinu OH, Balogun M, Pugsley H. Exploring dental students’ perceptions of their clinical learning environment: A qualitative study to evaluate the curriculum. Int J Res in Educ Sci 2024;10(2):279-298. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijres.3364
21. Singhal D. Understanding student- centered learning and philosophies of teaching practices. Int J Sci Res Management 2017;5(2):5123-5129. https://doi.org/10.18535/ijsrm/v5i2.02
22. Alyami A, Abdulwahed A, Azhar A, Binsaddik A, Bafaraj SM. Impact of time-management on the student’s academic performance: A cross-sectional study. Creative Educ 2021;12(3):471-485. https://doi.org/10.4236/ ce.2021.123033
23. Ali AP, Mohammadnezhad M, May W, Kabir R. The perception of undergraduate dental students toward a clinical learning environment at school of dentistry and oral health, Fiji National University, Fiji. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent 2021;11(1):26-32. https://doi.org/10.4103/jispcd.JISPCD_333_20
24. Naik B, Rangasamy S, Vrushabhendra H. Time management among undergraduate medical students: A study from a tertiary health-care teaching institution in Puducherry. J Integrated Health Sci 2019;7(2):39-43. https:// doi.org/10.4103/jihs.jihs_36_19
25. Maart RD, Adam R Z., Frantz JM. Dental educators’ views and knowledge of competencies required within a competency framework. S Afr Dent J 2021;76(08):482489. https://doi.org/10.17159/2519-0105/2021/v76no8a6
26. Morgan H. Conducting a qualitative document analysis. The Qualitative Report 2022;27(1):64-77. https://doi. org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5044