The Journal of Medical Education and Development

 Introduction: The twenty-first century is a new era of permanent changes in the scientific and medical practices. Critical thinking is essential to solve complex systems' problems. This study aims to investigate critical thinking skills of dental students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences.

Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive study. Sixty four dental students enrolled in Faculty of Dentistry of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. Was investigated in 2013. The California Critical Thinking Test, Form B (CCTST, FB) including 34 multiple choice questions was used to assess the critical thinking skills of the students. The collected Data were analyzed by SPSS software using T-test, ANOVA, Spearman and Pearson Correlation coefficient.

Results: The mean of critical thinking skills in the first year students was 13.9±2.4 and in last year was 11.8 ±2.9 There was no significant difference between the first and last year students' scores. Dimensions of critical thinking were not related to demographic factors, gender, last year score, marital status, and academic level (P>0.05).

Conclusion: The mean scores of critical thinking skills in the first year students was higher than the last year students. Critical thinking was not enhanced among dental students while studying at the university. Lecturers in dental universities should focus more on nurturing critical thinking skills of the students to improve the clinical competency of dental students.