Comparing Dental and Pharmacy Students’ Perceptions on Public Health and Preventive Health Care Course

Abstract

Objectives: A Public health course has an important role in theundergraduate education of pharmacy and dentistry in termsof emphasizing preventive care. The purpose of this study is toevaluate the views of pharmacy and dentistry students on a publichealth course and preventive health care.Methods: 173 students enrolled at Ege University, Facultiesof Pharmacy and Dentistry completed a SWOT (Strengths,Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and replied to18 Likert type question to determine their perceptions on a publichealth course and preventive health care. The comments of thestudents were reviewed and categorized into key themes.Results: SWOT analysis and the results of quantitative Likerttype questions supported each other. According to the quantitativeresults, there was no significant difference between the scores ofstudents from both schools in terms of their statements about thepublic health course and preventive care. Both groups of studentsmentioned the contribution of the public health course to theirprofessions in the future. They also appreciated the importance ofpreventive care in the health services.Keywords: Education, curriculum, public health, pharmacystudents, dentistry students, preventive health care.