Difficulties and Feelings Experienced by Undergraduate Dental Students When Caring for Patients.

Purpose: Dealing with the patient's illness process is part of the academic trajectory of healthcare students. The relationship between patients and their healthcare professionals can be complex and challenging, especially for undergraduate dental students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceptions, feelings, and difficulties of dental students triggered when caring for patients during their undergraduate course.

Methods: Eighty-six undergraduate dental students responded to a semi-structured questionnaire about their experiences with patient care in the oral medicine clinic.

Results: Forty-two students (48.8%) felt uncomfortable with the patients' anamnesis questions. Among these, the inquiries about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were the most discomforting topic to address with the patient (65%), followed by drug abuse (35%) and sexual behavior (15%). According to the students, the most difficult topic to discuss with the patient was a negative diagnosis (40%), followed by STIs and sexual behavior (25.3%), and physical and sexual violence (20%). During patient care, the main challenging issue was dealing with uncooperative patients, reported by 29 students (36.7%). About the challenges faced during patient interviews, the majority of the students reported feeling bad when the patient shared a negative life story (90.7%) or when they described a traumatic life event (83.7%). A portion of the students (26.7%) reported that this discomfort in hearing a patient's negative life story can negatively impact the care they provide to the patient.

Conclusion: Dental students experience evident difficulties in clinical practice with patients in the oral medicine clinic, especially in relation to some themes addressed during the anamnesis. Knowledge of these difficulties is essential to develop new learning and teaching strategies and improve the students' professional training during their dental undergraduate course.