The educational environment affects dental students’ well-being and academic achievement, with unclear impact from clinical instructors on burnout levels. This study is aimed to determine the impact of students’ perception about their clinical instructors in its burnout levels in a sample of Chilean dental students.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted among fourth and fifth-year dental students at the University of Concepción (Chile), collecting data on various variables including demographics, effective teaching hours, instructor treatment, knowledge delivery, student appreciation, and burnout assessed using Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI). Data were gathered through a self-administered survey and analyzed using STATA 10/SE software (p<0.05).

Results:

One-hundred and seventy students participated, high levels of emotional exhaustion (51.76%), depersonalization (56.47%), and personal accomplishment (60.59%) were found. Female students (p=0.0008), those who perceive inadequate treatment from instructors towards patients (p=0.0496), and those who rate the instructor as obstructionist (p=0.0208) reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion. 5th year students (p=0.0142), students who perceive indifferent treatment from instructors towards students (p=0.0002), and those who rate the instructor as obstructionist (p=0.0026) exhibited higher levels of depersonalization. 4th year students (p=0.0475) and those who perceive indifferent treatment from instructors towards students (p=0.0221) showed lower levels of personal accomplishment. There was a correlation between depersonalization and effective teaching hours (rho=-0.2166, p=0.0046).

Conclusion:

Students’ perception about their clinical instructors as indifferent towards the students, obstructionist in the teaching process, with inadequate treatment towards the patients, and less effective teaching hours is associated with higher students’ burnout levels.