IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME) e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 6, Issue 4 Ver. I (Jul. - Aug. 2016), PP 19-21 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/7388-0604011921 www.iosrjournals.org 19 | Page Evaluation of the Relationship between the Pre-Clinical and Clinical Courses Grades of Dental Students in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Negin Ghasemi 1 , Parisa Falsafi* 2 , Kazem Khodadoust 3, Ayla Bahramian 2 , Mohammadali Ghavimi 4 , Arezoo Ghoreishizadeh 5 1 Assistant Professor Of Endodontic, Dental Faculty Of Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran. 2 Assistant Professor Of Oral Medicine, Dental Faculty Of Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran. 3 Ph.D, Educational Development Office, Dental Faculty Of Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran 4 Assistant Professor Of Oral And Maxillofacial Surgery, Department Of Oral And Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Faculty Of Tabriz University Of Medical Science, Iran. 5 Department Of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty Of Dentistry, Tabriz University Of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Abstract Aims: The present study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between the grades of pre-clinical and clinical courses of endodontics, fixed prosthodontics and restorative dentistry achieved by dental students entering Tabriz Faculty of Dentistry in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Materials and methods: The subjects in this retrospective cross-sectional study consisted of dental students entering Tabriz Faculty of Dentistry in 2009, 2010 and 2011 (n=48 students each year). The grades of the students in restorative dentistry, fixed prosthodontists, endodontics I (pre-clinic) and endodontics II (clinic) courses were recorded by referring to the Archives of the Education Office of the Faculty. The means and standard deviations of the grades were calculated. T-test was used to compare the means and standard deviations with SPSS. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results: There were significant differences in all the grades between the clinical and pre-clinical lessons (P<0.05). In relation to the operative dentistry and endodontics courses, the clinical courses grades were significantly lower than those in the pre-clinic courses (P<0.05). However, in relation to the practical fixed prosthodontics courses, the grades in clinical courses were significantly higher than those in the pre-clinical courses (P<0.05). Conclusion: Under the limitations of the present study, of all the grades in the clinical courses, the grades in the practical fixed prosthodontics courses were higher than those in the pre-clinical courses. Keywords: Endodontics, restorative dentistry, fixed prosthodontics, pre-clinic, clinic. I. Introduction Promotion of the quality of education requires continuous evaluation of educational status of university students during the whole study period and comparison of their grades at different stages of education (1). Dentistry is a combination of art and science. A harmony between what is learned and what is applied in the clinic is of utmost importance (2). Professors should provide a situation so that as the students learn the theoretical lessons, they can gain skills in the clinic, too (3). Keeves and Larkin (1966) carried out a super analysis of the projects that have evaluated the relationship between the final progress in learning with the initial progress and reported that the final progress in learning has a significant relationship with the initial progress (4). In addition, Danesh Kazemi et al (2014) carried out a study to evaluate the correlation between the grades in theoretical and practical lessons of restorative dentistry in dental students in Yazd University of Medical Sciences and reported a significant correlation between the grades in all the theoretical and practical lessons of restorative dentistry (5). However, Adhami et al (2012) did not report a significant correlation between the correlation coefficients of the grades in practical and theoretical lessons in pharmacology students in Kerman University of Medical Sciences (6). In the field of dental education, the transition from the pre- clinical period to the clinical period is very sensitive because the students have to attend the clinic and render services to patients. Evaluation and comparison of the grade achieved during these two periods might reveal the weak and strong points of students in learning the practical aspects of the related lessons. In addition, such comparison might create the proper conditions in which the professors can adapt the pre-clinical lessons to the needs of students in the clinic so that the scientific knowledge of students can be improved. Furthermore the