Perceptions and Expectations of Accreditation Among Undergraduate Dental Students in a Non‐Accredited Dental Faculty in Turkey: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Zeliha Hatipoğlu Palaz, Berrak Çakmak, İpek Atak Seçen, Melik Fatih Karagöz, Mehmet Bani, Fatma Deniz UzunerABSTRACT
Introduction
This study aimed to evaluate dental students' perceptions and expectations regarding the potential benefits of a faculty undergoing an accreditation process, and to provide faculty‐specific insights relevant to quality improvement processes.
Materials and Methods
This cross‐sectional descriptive study was conducted with 670 undergraduate students using a two‐part questionnaire created in Google Forms to assess students' perceptions and expectations of accreditation. The first part assessed students' self‐reported familiarity with accreditation, their self‐reported familiarity with the accreditation status of their faculty and university, and the accrediting body responsible for overseeing accreditation processes, while the second explored their perceptions and expectations of the potential impact of accreditation on educational quality, clinical training, and professional outcomes. Students responded on a three‐point scale (‘Agree’, ‘Disagree’, ‘No opinion’). Responses were analysed collectively and by grade level. Additionally, two subgroups were defined as preclinical and clinical. Frequency and percentage were used to describe the variables. Pearson Chi‐Squared and Fisher–Freeman–Halton Exact tests were used to compare group distributions, with a significance level of p < 0.05.
Results
In the first part of the questionnaire, 77% of students reported familiarity with the concept of accreditation, and 59.3% correctly identified that their faculty was not accredited. In the second part, students' perceptions regarding the impact of accreditation on the faculty and students exceeded the target rate of 70% for all items. The rate of ‘No opinion’ responses was significantly higher among first‐year students compared to other grades ( p < 0.05). Except for two items, the preclinical group showed significantly higher ‘No opinion’ rates than the clinical group ( p < 0.05).
Conclusion
Students demonstrated increasingly positive perceptions and expectations of accreditation with advancing clinical experience, and these perceptions were associated with more favourable evaluations of its potential impact on educational quality, career opportunities and social contribution.