Level of Satisfaction of Post-Doctoral Graduates with the Instruction of Clinical Skills: A Cross-Sectional Self-Assessment Study in 2019 and 2020

Background Iranian dental residency programs' clinical skills training satisfaction assessment is crucial in determining graduates' professional competency at the global scale. This study evaluated Iranian dental residency graduates' satisfaction with clinical skills training, addressing a gap in national-level data. Methods In this cross-sectional, analytical, descriptive study, 500 graduates of seven dental residency programs who took the 2019 and 2020 Iranian national board dental examination were studied. Online pre-examination testing used a validated, reliable researcher-made questionnaire (content validity ratio = 0.8, Cronbach's α = 0.92) for satisfaction with clinical skills instruction. Participants provided informed consent via an online opt-in form. Data were subjected to Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests in SPSS version 21 (α = 0.05) for comparing satisfaction based on work experience and type of university. Results Response rate was 92.6% (n = 463). Range of mean satisfaction with clinical skills was 60% (oral and maxillofacial surgery) to 79.5% (periodontics). Type 1 university graduates were significantly more satisfied than type 2 graduates (P < 0.001), but there were no significant differences between specialties (P = 0.053). Satisfaction below 50% was unusual but was notable in oral surgery. Conclusions Satisfaction exceeded 50% across all specialties but was low in oral and maxillofacial surgery (60%) when these complex fields were most in need of it. Internationally, these findings highlight the imperative of matching the clinical curriculum to professional requirements. Residency programs are encouraged to focus more on enhanced clinical exposure and inter-disciplinary training to boost competency, serving as a model for international curriculum change.