Purpose: To improve the teaching effect of orbital anatomy course for students majoring in stomatology.
Methods: Based on a retrospective analysis of average score of orbital anatomy course for previous dental and medical students, and the problems existing in teaching effect, orbital anatomy and orbital imaging course were designed and carried out in dental students. The course combined imaging with orbital anatomy, and included clinical examples. Medical students were set as control. Examination was carried out after the end of the whole course, and the professional knowledge of orbital anatomy of two groups was compared. A self-designed questionnaire was designed to evaluate the teaching effect of orbital anatomy and orbital imaging courses for dental students and residents over 1 year after graduation. SPSS 22 software package was used for Statistical analysis.
Results: The previous average score of dental students was 7.50, and the average score of medical students was 8.67. There was significant difference between the two groups (P=0.004). The average score of dental students after offering the course of orbital anatomy and orbital imaging was 9.67, and the average score of medical students was 9.00. No significant difference was noticed between the two groups(P=0.184). Questionnaire survey showed that the after-class review time of dental students was 20 min, and that of medical students was 30 min. 74.7% of the dental students and 80% of the dental residents did not study orbital anatomy and imaging courses before. 87.4% of the dental students and 100% of dental residents considered that the orbital imaging course was helpful to master the anatomical characteristics of the orbit. 89.7% of the dental students and 100% of dental residents believed that orbital imaging course was helpful to their clinical work.
Conclusions: Orbital anatomy and orbital imaging course were designed for dental students as supplementary teaching programme. It successfully inspired students' interest in learning, cultivated the students' overall and comprehensive thinking, narrowed students to master the knowledge of orbital anatomy, closed the gap of teaching effect between dental and clinical medicine, and laid the foundation to develop dental professional work in the future.