Comparison of Academic Performance of Students in Doctor of Dentistry before and during Corona Pandemic in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

The aim of this study was to compare the academic performance of general doctoral students in dentistry before and during the corona pandemic in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in 2021. Today, students' academic performance is considered as an important indicator for evaluating the higher education system. The academic performance of students is always considered one of the most important ways to evaluate the performance of professors, and for students, the grades and GPA of the academic semester represent their academic abilities to enter higher education levels. Therefore, academic performance has always been important for teachers, students, parents and educational researchers, and for this reason, many educational researchers and specialists have focused their research on identifying the effective factors related to academic progress.

In terms of its purpose, this research was one of the applied researches, and in terms of the method of controlling the variables, it was also an experimental research that was conducted in a post-event (causal comparative) manner. The statistical population was 250 people of all dental students in Medical Sciences Faculty of Ahvaz Jundishapur of University of Medical Sciences, and 151 people were selected as a sample by simple random sampling according to the table of Georgesi and Morgan. In addition to the previous coordination, the researcher referred to the education department of Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, and evaluated the scores of the mentioned courses before, during and after the corona virus. The method of collecting information was field and library. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used in this research, whereas in the descriptive part, indicators related to mean and standard deviation were used; while in the inferential part, independent and dependent t-tests were used to test the hypotheses. In addition, SPSS version 23 software was used for data analysis in this research, and a significance level of 0.05 was considered. During the registration and recording of students' grades, in order to respect the rights of students and comply with ethical considerations, students' names were coded and the code was used to identify the sample.

Demographic characteristics of the present research sample in terms of gender were associated with the frequency of 0.56 woman and 0.44 man, also the age frequency of the research sample was 21 to 23 years with a frequency of 0.63, 24 to 27 years, 0.12 and 27 years and above. In this part, the hypotheses of the research are examined that for this purpose, the dependent t statistical test (to measure and compare the scores before and during the Corona) and the independent t-test have been used. The results showed that the corona pandemic in obtaining the score of the oral and maxillofacial pathology course (1); the mean score during the Corona was equal to 15.98, and the mean score before corona was equal to 12.41, the anatomy of the practical tooth was equal to the mean score during corona equal to 0.00. 17, and the average pre-corona scores equal to 12.14, while internal diseases (2); the mean intra-coronary scores equal to 16.48, and the mean pre-coronary scores equal to 12.54, the pharmacology mean the mean intra-corona scores equal to 17.00, and the mean scores Pre-corona 12.30, and oral and maxillofacial surgery (1); the mean score during corona equal to 16.95, and the mean pre-coronary score equal to 12.62. General Ph.D. students in dentistry at Ahwaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences has it.

According to the first hypothesis of the research, the findings demonstrated the effect of the Corona pandemic on the oral and maxillofacial pathology course scores (1); in the second hypothesis, the findings showed the effect of the Corona pandemic on the achievement of the practical dental anatomy course score; obtained by  according to the fourth hypothesis,   the effect of the Corona pandemic on the grades of the pharmacology course;  and regarding to the fifth hypothesis, the effect of the corona pandemic on the grades It shows the grade of oral and maxillofacial surgery course (1)was revealed. Hence, it was recommended that practical laboratory classes and education in the field of medical internship students and other fields should be planned and implemented in a combined form with face-to-face priority, provided that vaccination was completed and in compliance with health protocols. It was also recommended that in hospital centers and colleges, all the trainings that were held in the form of morning report, journal club, case-report and scientific meetings, according to the facilities of educational groups and hospitals, in compliance with health protocols, in the form of combined programs with attendance priority should be implemented.