دکتر محمودرضا دهقانی

Dental specialists have a fundamental role in the dental care system. In some countries, the number of dental specialists fulfills their workforce needs, whereas in developing countries, it does not. It is essential to plan for training professional workforce regarding the purpose of using specializations in developing programs of health sector. Although previous reports of Iran’s dental human resources are accessible, there are no published data on the prediction of this important issue in the future. This study aimed to estimate the country's need for dental specialists by 2025 and provide the possibility of appropriate planning to complete and administrate the specialized human workforce for senior managers.

This study was done based on an explanatory mixed-methods design at three steps. Supply analysis phase, collecting the status quo data and the process of variations in the admission and supply of dental residents, was done. Need assessment phase, the demand for dental specialties, in both treatment and educational sectors in Iran by 2025, was conducted. Gap analysis phase, the estimated gap between supply and demand of specialized workforce, was calculated by 2025, and the shortage or surplus was obtained.

In the fields of orthodontics, pediatrics, maxillofacial surgery, prosthetics, and restorative dentistry, we will need 279, 292, 335, 216, and 229 specialists, respectively, by 2025. In endodontics, periodontics, and oral diseases specialists, we will reach almost the desired situation. In oral pathology and radiology, we will have 87 and 59 specialists more than the defined standards, respectively.

Using the results of estimating the required number of dental specialists by 2025, and considering the admission capacity of the country's universities, the national division of labor concerning training of specialized dentists needed for the coming years can be done.

In the current healthcare system of Iran, there is a great emphasis on improving the quality healthcare services and access of all people to these services, especially in the field of oral health. Achieving this goal requires the provision of services by dentists. In order to adopt the best policies in this regard, having persistent knowledge on the number and distribution of the workforce is crucial. Therefore, the aim of this study was to present a report on the status of dental resources in Iran in 2019 based on the number of dentists.

In the present descriptive study, data was collected from several sources. The statistics of specialist dentists graduated in the country were collected through correspondence with all dentistry faculties of the country. In addition to presenting the statistics of available dentists and dentists employed in the country, the "dentist to population ratio" index was also used to examine the distribution of dentists across the country.

The number of general and specialist dentists across Iran in 2019 is calculated to be 30811 and 4593, respectively. Notably, the largest number of specialists was in the specialized field of endodontics (13.8%), and the lowest number belonged to oral and maxillofacial pathology (4.2%). In Iran, there are 43 dentists per 100000 people. The number of general and specialist dentists with office license and employed in the private sectors is 18287 and 2773, respectively. Moreover, overall, 36 state universities in 10 specialized fields offer courses with 1824 specialists as faculty members.

Although the number of general and specialist dentists in the country has increased considerably in recent years, the distribution of these individuals across different regions of Iran has been overlooked, and the dentist to 100000 population ratio differs in various provinces of the country.

Currently, many medical universities in Iran use e-learning programs to educate and evaluate students. This teaching and assessment method is highly significant during the coronavirus epidemic.

The present study was conducted to compare the analytic indices of in-person vs. online exams at the Kerman University of Medical Sciences, (KMUS) Iran.

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020. The study samples included all exams given at the KMUS and midterm exam scores obtained from inperson and online courses in the first and second semesters in the academic year 2019-2020. The exams were selected based on courses, and the same courses were offered both in-person and online; thus, only one group was studied. Course exam indicators, including difficulty and discriminative index, were examined. Data analyzed using SPSS software version 22.

The mean of the difficulty index related to in-person and online exams were (0.62 ± 0.1) and (0.68 ± 0.1), respectively. (P=0.01). The mean of the discriminative index related to in-person (0.30± 0.07) and online (0.33± 0.08) exams had no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). The frequency of easy questions in online exams was significantly higher, (55% vs. 43%) (p = 0.008). The frequency of questions with an appropriate discriminative index was significantly higher for in-person exams compared to online exams (58% vs. 54%) (p = 0.01).

The difficulty index was acceptable and appropriate for both in-person and online exams. Both exams had appropriate quality according to the discriminative index Therefore, it seems that e-learning programs and assessments can be a good alternative to in-person teaching in emergencies