Students' perceptions of the performance of the professors of the clinic of the dental school of the University of Cuenca in the academic year 2021-2022

Background: The clinical teachers create a learning environment that integrates the theoretical knowledge learned in classrooms and laboratories, therefore the student, having a teacher who provides everything he/she needs to become an excellent professional will always be very indispensable. Knowing how students perceive the quality of their teachers can in turn reveal their strengths and weaknesses, and make changes if necessary. The objective of this article is to evaluate the students' perception of the performance of the clinical teachers of the faculty of Dentistry of the University of Cuenca during the academic year 2021-2022.

Methods: Analytical study, which involved the participation of 97 students who responded to a survey at the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Cuenca, Ecuador.  For the present study, a scale was used to evaluate the responses to the instrument, the objective of which was to determine the students' opinion of the clinical dental education provided by clinical teachers. The scale assessed six dimensions: modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection and general learning from the environment.

Results: The general result indicated a neutral perception, the majority of the students are unbiased with a slight tendency to "partially agree”, however this depends on each dimension.

Conclusion: For the students' impartiality, it is important to provide feedback to the clinical teachers in order to improve and implement new methodologies that allow the student to guarantee a professional training with the full support of their teacher.