Background and Aim: Positive attitude of dentists towards the professional ethical principles can improve the quality of provided services and minimize occupational stress. This study aimed to assess the attitude and professionalism in education of dental residents at the School of Dentistry of Islamic Azad University, Tehran.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on all dental residents attending the School of Dentistry of Islamic Azad University in Tehran in 2022. Data were collected using the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) professionalism questionnaire, which was translated to Persian by Aramesh, and its validity and reliability were confirmed. This questionnaire includes two parts of (I) demographic information, and (II) questions regarding the perception of professionalism at work (totally 17 questions) in four main domains of excellence, honor/integrity, altruism/respect, and empathy. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and analyzed by one-way ANOVA and regression test.
Results: Of 57 dental residents, 26.3% were males and 73.7% were females. The mean total score of professionalism was found to be 114.96±23.45 out of 153, and the overall percentage of professionalism was calculated to be 75.13%±15.33% out of 100%. The percentage of professionalism score in the third-year and higher residents was 8% higher than that in second-year residents (P=0.052). The mean percentage of professionalism score was not significantly correlated with the field of specialty, gender, age, participation in related courses, or grade point average (GPA) (P>0.05).
Conclusion: It appears that attitude and professionalism of dental residents of School of Dentistry of Islamic Azad University of Tehran in 2022 were optimal. The honor/integrity domain acquired the highest, and the altruism/respect domain gained the lowest score.