Page 88 - Demo

Chapter 586Most graduates from ACTA worked in group practices, three worked in solo practices as well, and two graduates worked exclusively in solo practices. Graduates from ACTA had less on-site access to help from colleagues than graduates from AU did (Table S4). Availability of help was not associated with the change in selfefficacy (Table 3). Postgraduation education in Endodontics was undertaken by 16 graduates from AU, and 12 from ACTA (Fisher’s exact test: p = .10), and included courses, congresses, lectures or symposia. Time allocated to this postgraduation education varied from 2 to 120 h. The graduates from ACTA standard programme or ACTA extended programme undertook similar amount of postgraduation education (Mann-Whitney test: p = .69).DiscussionThis study included novice dentists from two countries who were graduates from three different undergraduate endodontic programmes. These factors appeared to have little influence on the change in self-efficacy (Tables 2 and 3). Although the response rate in the present study may be considered low, the responders seemed to resemble the non-responders (Table 1), and therefore, it is expected that the findings in the present study would not have changed substantially if the participation rate had been higher (Draugalis et al. 2008). The sample comprised novice dentists with varying clinical experience in Endodontics prior to graduation, and varying baseline self-efficacy (Baaij et al. 2020). Floor and ceiling effects, since self-efficacy has a lower and upper limit, as well as measurement error, were anticipated, but seemed not to fully explain the change in self-efficacy (Figure 1) (Bland & Altman 1995, Gist & Mitchell 1992, Kirkwood & Sterne 2003). Besides, increase in self-efficacy is controlled by one’s performance, and therefore an inaccurate increase in self-efficacy seems unlikely since it is expected to be corrected automatically when performance lags behind (Gist & Mitchell 1992). Endodontic self-efficacy increased with the number of root canal treatments performed within the year following graduation, and the increase in self-efficacy also depended on the level of self-efficacy that had been built-up until graduation (Tables 2 and 3 and Figure 1). Obviously, a high baseline self-efficacy leaves less room for an increase in self-efficacy than a low baseline self-efficacy (Gist & Mitchell 1992). The value of performing root canal treatment on patients during undergraduate dental training is to transition from competent to self-efficacious Annemarie Baaij.indd 86 28-06-2023 12:26