Changes in Preclinical Dental Students' Attitudes Towards Community Service Following a Longitudinal Community‐Based Service‐Learning Programme: A Quasi‐Experimental Study
Venkata Ramesh Manumanthu, Vinay Chandrappa, Sri Chaitanya Ram Kadiyala, Rama Laxmi Koruprolu, Venkata Sandhya Lakshmi Thorreti, Venkata Karteek Varma P, Divya Bhavani Vasamsetti, Jahnavi GurugubelliABSTRACT
Background
Oral diseases remain a major public health concern in India, disproportionately affecting underserved populations. Service‐learning, which integrates community engagement with academic learning, is increasingly recognized as an effective educational strategy to address health inequities while promoting professional and civic development among healthcare students. The Miles for Smiles programme at Vishnu Dental College provides structured early exposure to community‐based dental outreach for preclinical dental students. This study evaluated changes in students' attitudes towards community service following participation in the programme.
Methods
A prospective quasi‐experimental single‐group pre‐test–post‐test study was conducted among preclinical Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students. Sixty‐six students who completed both pre‐ and post‐intervention assessments participated in the study. Students participated in 10–12 supervised community outreach visits throughout one academic year. Attitudes towards community service were assessed using the Community Service Attitude Scale (CSAS). Pre‐ and post‐intervention scores were compared using paired‐samples t ‐tests and repeated‐measures general linear model analysis. Independent‐samples t ‐tests and one‐way analysis of variance were used for subgroup comparisons. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.
Results
Overall CSAS scores increased significantly from 30.34 ± 3.91 at baseline to 30.97 ± 3.31 following the intervention ( p < 0.001). Significant improvements were observed in connectedness, normative helping behaviour, perceived costs, perceived benefits, career benefits, seriousness and intention (all p < 0.001), whereas no significant change was observed in awareness ( p = 0.092). Female students demonstrated greater improvements than male students in the career benefits and intention domains only, whereas overall CSAS change scores did not differ significantly by gender. Changes in attitudes were not significantly associated with year of study, prior community service experience or place of residence.
Conclusion
The Miles for Smiles service‐learning programme was associated with significant improvements in preclinical dental students' attitudes towards community service. These findings support the integration of structured service‐learning experiences into undergraduate dental curricula as a strategy to strengthen community‐oriented attitudes and professional development among future dentists.