Assesing The Ability Of Critical Thinking Among Students Of Medical And Dental Colleges Around Hyderabad: A Cross Sectional Study

Objective: To assess critical thinking ability in medical and dental students, as well as to compare critical thinking ability between medical and dental students. Method: A cross sectional study was carried on among 300 medical and 300 dental students from Hyderabad city, Telangana. Distribution of sample in three medical and three dental colleges around Hyderabad city. A sample of 600 study participants were selected. This was done by selecting three medical and three dental colleges by lottery method from the list of total colleges around Hyderabad city.A predesigned proforma was used for assessing the critical thinking ability. The proforma consisted of demographic data which was common for both (Name, age, gender, type of schooling, academic year, father's annual income and residential address) and the Watson – Glaser's critical thinking questionnaire was used to assess the critical thinking ability. The purpose of the study was clearly explained to all the subjects. Collected data was subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The association amongthe dental and medical studentswere found to be 7.8 ± 1.8 and 8.1 ± 2 respectively when the means of their total scores were compared. There was statistically significant difference found among the dental and medical students. ( p = 0.01 ). The means of total scores among female and male students were found to be 7.8 ± 1.7 and 8.5 ± 2 respectively. There was statistically significant difference found among the female and male students. ( p = 0.01). Conclusion: The research indicates that medical students have a higher level of critical thinking than dentistry students. Since the body of information in biomedical and biomaterial sciences continues to expand rapidly, critical thinking becomes more important, as it places a premium on logic over emotion. It is critical prior to implementing any technique in clinical practice.