Evaluation of orthodontics speciality training in Turkey by orthodontic specialist students

Evaluation of Orthodontic Speciality Training in Turkey by Orthodontic Specialist Students. The aim of this study is to evaluate the overall satisfaction ratings of the specialist training of orthodontics specialists in Turkey and evaluation of the specialist training from the perspective of the specialist students. Our study is a descriptive and cross-sectional survey study. In the first phase, the variables that are objected to be used in evaluating the training of orthodontics in Turkey have been defined. For this purpose, a survey has been prepared in accordance to the Regulation on Speciality Education in Medicine and Dentistry and available literature. To be able to obtain the data about the other variables that are not involved in the regulation, a questionaire has been formed and used. The survey that is aimed to be formed as a data collection, consists of 38 questions in total including 6 open-ended and 32 closed-ended questions. All the specialist training students registered at Turkish Orthodontic Assosciation have been contacted via email. The e-mail address of our questionnaire was copied and mailed to the e-mail addresses of the participants via the Turkish Orthodontic Society. Frequency and percentage (%) distribution is used to identify the data. The data obtained from the open-ended questions were evaluated by categorization. The data were obtained from the answers of 187 orthodontic specialists who participated in the survey. The data were compared with the data obtained from the similar studies and the interpretations were made accordingly. As a conclusion, improvements should be made in the training of orthodontics specialists in Turkey. Key Words: Orthodontic speciality training, Survey, Cross-sectional study, Orthodontic specialist students.