Abstract

Purpose: This study seeks to analyze the educational environments of the national dental schools in South Korea, Laos, and Vietnam to develop targeted educational support strategies for Laos and Vietnam. Materials and methods: The survey, using the DREEM specific to the healthcare field, was conducted online, with 97, 109, 215 dental students from a single national university in South Korea (SKU), Laos (LU), and Vietnam (VU), respectively. The data allowed us to compare students’ perceptions of the educational environment across the three institutions and analyze differences by gender, academic achievement, and year of study. Results: VU, LU, and SKU reported scores of 133.47, 129.66, and 104.23, respectively, all within the "more positive than negative" range (101.150 points). SKU scored lowest in the category of "students’ perception of learning" (mean score of 1.82), while VU and LU had the lowest scores in category of "students’ perceptions of atmosphere" (mean scores of 2.49 and 2.57, respectively) and "students’ social self-perceptions" (mean scores of 2.49 and 2.52, respectively). In contrast to SKU, VU and LU showed no differences between achievement groups, with male students scoring lower than female students in some DREEM categories. Conclusion: We expect that analyzing the educational environment from the beneficiaries’ perspective and developing strategies based on this analysis will provide practical support to dental schools in Laos and Vietnam.