Abstract

GOPIE, A M  and  SINGH, S. Exploring academics' and clinical supervisors' perspectives on teaching and training time management skills in undergraduate dental programmes. Afr. J. Health Prof. Educ. (Online) [online]. 2025, vol.17, n.4, pp.2-6. ISSN 2078-5127.  https://doi.org/10.7196/AJHPE.2025.v17i4.2610.

BACKGROUND. Academics and clinical supervisors play a vital role in developing skills such as time management within the competency-based undergraduate dental curricula. However, it is unclear how academics and clinical supervisors include time management skills as part of the training programmes. The present study was done to explore academics' and clinical supervisors' perspectives on developing time management skills in dental therapy and oral hygiene programmes. STUDY OBJECTIVES. To identify time management skills taught in the training programmes; to describe participants' engagement with time management skills in practical training; and to discover the mechanisms of monitoring time management in the clinic. METHODS. Following an exploratory, qualitative research design, a semi-structured interview schedule was used to gather data from 13 participants. Criterion-purposive sampling was used to select study participants. The interview schedule focused on gathering participants' perspectives using seven open-ended questions. Data collected were converted into transcripts and inductively analysed through thematic analysis. RESULTS. Academics' and clinical supervisors' development of time management skills emerged as three significant themes. Theme 1 described the time management skills lectured in the first year of the curricula. Theme 2 identified the impact of time allocation on practical training for students to manage their time. Theme 3 reported the mechanisms to monitor and track students' clinical time management. CONCLUSION. Participants teach and train time management skills to enable students to work towards their goals and meet deadlines. These skills play an essential role in clinical training, where they are enhanced so that students can meet their competency requirements.

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