Academic performance and preclinical skills in the dental students of Ukrainian University

OBJECTIVE: Aim: To identify the relation between academic performance and preclinical skills in pediatric dentistry, and which skills need to be refined. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among the second year students of Poltava state medical university (PSMU) in the 2023/2024 academic year. Oral questions used for knowledge assessment, and academic performance was calculated as average score of grades for all classes. Preclinical skills were estimated with developed assessment at two stations during objective structural phantom exam (OSFE). The χ2 test for proportions and Spearman`s rank correlation coefficient were calculated. RESULTS: Results: The assessment of practical skills found that the students with excellent level of skills showed same academic performance (P