Harassment of newly admitted undergraduates by senior students in a Faculty of Dentistry in Sri Lanka.

Background: Harassment of new students by senior colleagues appears to be widespread in the industrialised countries. Although 'ragging' of new entrants to universities in Sri Lanka gets frequently publicised, its prevalence, severity and the consequences have not been documented.

Aims: This study aims to ascertain the extent of mistreatment of new dental students, the measures they take when harassed and any resulting negative effects.

Student self-assessment of essential skills in dental surgery.

Objective: To assess whether student self-assessments of essential skills in dental surgery are reliable indicators of the strengths and weaknesses of the clinical aspects of the dental school curriculum. This was done as part of an ongoing evaluation of the curriculum of the Faculty of Dental Sciences of the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka.

Design: Cross-sectional surveys of 5 different classes of students using a pre-tested questionnaire.