Inclusion of problem based learning” (PBL) as a new teaching-learning method for interns and comparison of pbl with conventional didactic teaching method, pertaining to the topic - “Tobacco related products and diseases”

Considering the tobacco abuse in India and the mortality associated, Interns should be taught about tobacco products and diseases with new method.

1. To conduct conventional didactic lecture and PBL sessions for interns pertaining to the topic - “Tobacco related products and diseases’’2. To compare the total test score of interns after lecture and PBL sessions.

It is a simple, observational, cross-sectional study.

A conventional didactic lecture was delivered for 33 interns for topic-‘Tobacco related products and diseases’. A test of 20 marks was carried out after the lecture. After 45 days, 3 PBL sessions of 30 minutes each were conducted at every 4 days for all interns. Similar test was conducted later as a surprise test. Scores were compared. The duration of the study was 3 months.

Unpaired t-test was used for comparison. This analysis was quantitative and objective.

Comparison of Pre (6.6061±2.13511) and post mean score (12.9091±2.15223) showed statistically significant difference with mean difference 6.30±2.53 (p<0.001, t=14.28).

PBL is an efficient and effective Teaching-Learning tool in dental education, which, with a little effort can be incorporated in dental education routinely.