Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate evolving trends in dental post graduate specialty preferences and career aspirations among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: A cross sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Saudi Dental Journal |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1013905217300019 |
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| author | Hassan Suliman Halawany Abdullah Salman Binassfour Waleed Khalid AlHassan Rami Ayed Alhejaily Nassr Al Maflehi Vimal Jacob Nimmi Biju Abraham |
| author_facet | Hassan Suliman Halawany Abdullah Salman Binassfour Waleed Khalid AlHassan Rami Ayed Alhejaily Nassr Al Maflehi Vimal Jacob Nimmi Biju Abraham |
| author_sort | Hassan Suliman Halawany |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate evolving trends in dental post graduate specialty preferences and career aspirations among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: A cross sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among final year dental students from seventeen universities in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire enquired about socio-demographic details and the ranking of three of their best preferences among the list of specialties/general dentistry and career options. They were also enquired about their opinion regarding the total time required to become a dentist and their intention to go for further studies abroad. The questionnaire assessed factors influencing their choices using a 5 point Likert scale ranging from extremely important to not important. Binary logistic regression to examine the combined effect of several independent variables on the likelihood of choosing a dental specialization/general dentistry and career option were analyzed. Results: The overall response rate was 64.6%. Restorative and Aesthetic Dentistry was the most preferred specialty (n = 98; 17.7%) followed by Endodontics (n = 78; 14.1%); Prosthodontics (n = 65; 11.7%) and Orthodontics (n = 63; 11.4%). The two most preferred careers were ‘Civilian dentist in public sector’ followed by ‘Academic services dentist’. Overall, students reported that the influence of family members in the dental profession, preference for private practice and specific interest in patient population as the most important factors in choosing a specialty/general dentistry. Intellectual content of the specialty was ranked the least important. On the other hand, the most important factors for choosing a career were variety of non-clinical duties, access to child care facilities and research opportunities. Conclusion: The results of this study show the top preferred specialties and career choices which can be a baseline for establishing national policies and for the improvement of graduate programs. There seems to be a need to promote mentoring activities and provide guidance and encouragement to pre-doctoral dental students in selecting the most appropriate specialty within their capability domain. Keywords: Dental profession, Dental students, Dental career, Dental manpower, Dental specialties, Dental education |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0e399aa061fa487daf73d13d09aaa0a9 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1013-9052 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Saudi Dental Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-0e399aa061fa487daf73d13d09aaa0a92025-08-20T01:59:13ZengSpringerSaudi Dental Journal1013-90522017-01-01291152310.1016/j.sdentj.2016.12.001Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi ArabiaHassan Suliman Halawany0Abdullah Salman Binassfour1Waleed Khalid AlHassan2Rami Ayed Alhejaily3Nassr Al Maflehi4Vimal Jacob5Nimmi Biju Abraham6College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Corresponding author at: College of Dentistry, King Saud University, P.O. Box 60169, Riyadh 11545, Saudi Arabia. Fax: +966 14698817.College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaObjective: The purpose of this study was to investigate evolving trends in dental post graduate specialty preferences and career aspirations among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: A cross sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among final year dental students from seventeen universities in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire enquired about socio-demographic details and the ranking of three of their best preferences among the list of specialties/general dentistry and career options. They were also enquired about their opinion regarding the total time required to become a dentist and their intention to go for further studies abroad. The questionnaire assessed factors influencing their choices using a 5 point Likert scale ranging from extremely important to not important. Binary logistic regression to examine the combined effect of several independent variables on the likelihood of choosing a dental specialization/general dentistry and career option were analyzed. Results: The overall response rate was 64.6%. Restorative and Aesthetic Dentistry was the most preferred specialty (n = 98; 17.7%) followed by Endodontics (n = 78; 14.1%); Prosthodontics (n = 65; 11.7%) and Orthodontics (n = 63; 11.4%). The two most preferred careers were ‘Civilian dentist in public sector’ followed by ‘Academic services dentist’. Overall, students reported that the influence of family members in the dental profession, preference for private practice and specific interest in patient population as the most important factors in choosing a specialty/general dentistry. Intellectual content of the specialty was ranked the least important. On the other hand, the most important factors for choosing a career were variety of non-clinical duties, access to child care facilities and research opportunities. Conclusion: The results of this study show the top preferred specialties and career choices which can be a baseline for establishing national policies and for the improvement of graduate programs. There seems to be a need to promote mentoring activities and provide guidance and encouragement to pre-doctoral dental students in selecting the most appropriate specialty within their capability domain. Keywords: Dental profession, Dental students, Dental career, Dental manpower, Dental specialties, Dental educationhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1013905217300019 |
| spellingShingle | Hassan Suliman Halawany Abdullah Salman Binassfour Waleed Khalid AlHassan Rami Ayed Alhejaily Nassr Al Maflehi Vimal Jacob Nimmi Biju Abraham Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia Saudi Dental Journal |
| title | Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia |
| title_full | Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia |
| title_fullStr | Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia |
| title_short | Dental specialty, career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in Saudi Arabia |
| title_sort | dental specialty career preferences and their influencing factors among final year dental students in saudi arabia |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1013905217300019 |
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