Sexism and dentistry

Source: Journal of Dental Education, Mar2014, Vol. 78 Issue 3, p401-410

Date of Publication: April 2014

In a nutshell: Researchers from the University of North Carolina have been looking into ‘gender issues,’ – i.e. sexism – in dental education at the Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. They surveyed 120 dental students and lecturers and found that a significantly greater proportion of women than men said that issues about their sex affected their clinical training. Women also said that mentorship was less available to them than to men and had less content and were more likely to say that they had less self-confidence when they were treating patients. Among the lecturers more women than men reported ‘insufficient awareness of gender issues.’ Lecturers who were women thought that women students showed more empathy towards their patients than men and both the lecturers and the students said that women academics received less respect from students than male ones. 48% of the students said they had experienced sexism in dentists’ clinics and seven per cent said that they had experience or witnessed unwelcome sexual advances.

Are dental students grinding their teeth with stress?

Source: Medical Teacher

To see the abstract of this article click here

Date of Publication: March 2014

In a nutshell: This study looked at levels of stress in 5,700 dental students in 17 dental schools in Colombia. It found that the fear of failing a course or a year was the highest-ranked source of stress among the students. Men reported less stress than women and more senior students were more stressed than ones who weren’t quite so far through their course. Having dentistry as one’s first choice of career, relying on financial support and coming from a higher socioeconomic background were all linked to feeling less stress.