The Examination of Professionalism Attitudes Among Dental Students According to Class Level: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the Professionalism Assessment Scale

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate professionalism attitudes among dental students across different year levels and to investigate the effect of clinical experience on the subscales of the Professionalism Assessment Scale. This cross-sectional study included 412 students enrolled in the Faculty of Dentistry at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. Data were collected using the Turkish version of the Professionalism Assessment Scale (PAS-TR), the validity and reliability of which have been previously established. The scale comprises three subscales: Professional Relationship and Development, Empathy–Humanism, and Responsibility. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Intergroup comparisons were performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test, followed by the Mann–Whitney U test for post hoc pairwise analyses when statistically significant differences were identified. Overall professionalism attitude scores did not differ significantly among year levels (p > 0.05). However, students in the clinical years (fourth and fifth years) demonstrated significantly higher scores in the Professional Relationship and Development (p = 0.023) and Responsibility (p = 0.030) subscales compared with preclinical students. No statistically significant differences were observed for the Empathy–Humanism subscale. The overall internal consistency of the scale was high (Cronbach’s α = 0.88).

Although overall professionalism attitudes remained relatively stable across year levels, improvements were observed in subdomains closely related to clinical experience.