Influence of the Knowledge and Practices on Dental Students Career Choices of Specialty in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: The dental profession plays a significant role in the service of the society. The selection of dentistry as a career as well as choosing specialty and continuing Postgraduate Dental Education (PGE) is a critical decision in an individual's life, affecting one's social and economic status. The aim of this study is to obtain empirical evidence on views on dental specialty choice and along with the investigation of the influencing and motivating factors that inspire them in choosing a dental specialty. Methodology: A cross sectional survey was conducted through an online-based questionnaire, distributed on social media to recruit participants including 600 dental students and graduates from different universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with convenience sampling technique to recruit participants from Twitter while cluster simple random technique in targeted colleges. For data management and analysis, SPSS version 16 was used. The arithmetic mean and standard deviation was calculated for quantitative data, chi-square and the Fischer Exact test were used to compare categorical data. The Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test, student`s t-test and ANOVA test were used to as tests of significance for comparing numerical data. Results: Our study shows that majority of the students decided on their own when choosing their career in dentistry and many of them are interested in pursuing international post-graduation programs. Personal preferences in PGE was oral maxillofacial surgery males as well as in females followed by pediatric surgery, females while Orthodontic, dentofacial orthopedics, restorative and cosmetic surgery in males. The most desired working environment preference was civilian dentist in public sector. The most common influencing factors in decision making for dental career were salary aspects and cost of living expenses. Moreover, the most important motives for dental PGE included encouragement by family, friends, teachers, counselors, and good experience with dentists, job security, earning money, flexible working hours, time for family and availability of jobs. Conclusion: Postgraduate dental education programs for specialization in dentistry to get either clinical specialty certification or higher academic degrees nationally or internationally should be developed on a planned basis by giving appropriate value to the influencing and motivating factors identified in order to enhance professional development and PGE in dentistry.