Selection of dental profession as a career : A cross sectional study among

1st BDS in Maharashtra

Abstract

Background:Lifelong longevity is based on one the most difficult decision which an individual
takes is chossing a carrer option. So, factors affecting the choice for selection of dental
profession as a career by first year BDS students plays a crucial role.Aim of study : To evaluate
the factors affecting the choice of dental profession by 1st year BDS students

To evaluate the reason affecting the career choice in males and in females.

Methods and Material: The study was conducted among 200 dental students. Students from
VSPM dental college, SDKS and GDC Nagpur were included in the study. A prevalidatedclose
ended e-questionnaire consisting of 30 questions was distributed among 1st year dental students.
The questionnaire was evaluated on a five point Likerts scale .The purpose of this study was
explained to the participant. After collecting the data from the students, statistical analysis was
performed and results were obtained.

Results: Data was obtained in percentage and cross tabulation form .Nearly 74.8% agreed that
they choose dentistry as they want to be self employed, 78.7% believes that dentistry offers
flexible work schedule, 70.3% opted dentistry as it pays better than any other jobs available to
them .only 60.9% were encouraged by their teachers or councellors to opt dentistry as a
career .The drastic result is that 72.8% thought dentistry as the only last best option available to
them.

Conclusion:The present scenario can be uplifted by increasing the awareness concerning the oral
health among general population by conducting social campaign.Plaque control demonstrations
should be included in the curriculum in order to increase awareness among students about
dentistry . Each school or college should have a councellingcentre that guide the students so that
they don’t consider dentistry as their last best option.

Keywords : Career , choice, dentistry

Introduction

Selection of career is one of the tough curve in one’s life. A different career choice shapes an
individual differently. Pursuing dentistry as a career offers dignity, great job opportunities with
decent pay.Majority of students opt dentistry as a career due to early financial independency.It is
well known profession for flexible work schedule with high paying job opportunities. Dentistry
being a subspeciality in medicine, various factors affects student’s choice. These factors differ
amongstudents of same as well as of different intistutes. Factors majorly affecting dentistry as a
career choice are found to be the flexible work schedule it offers, self employment, opportunity
to earn money soon after graduation, not much on call work and autonomy and prestige the
career offers . Although, dentistry is generally the second career option among many students
pursuing for a career in medical profession even though according to World Health Statistics
2014 , the ratio of dentist in India is 1:10000 that is there is 1 dentist available for 10,000
people . Every year 30,000 students graduate from dental college but only few percent continue
to practice dentistry. Increase in inflation in dentistry is raising the scale of intense pressure
amaongstudents.Lack of awareness ,less job opportunities,high investment and less return with
minialregognization are some factors affecting the choice of students

Hence, the present study was undertaken. to examine the above factors influencing dental
students to choose dentistry as a career among dental students in Nagpur .

Materials and Methods

This study is a descriptive, cross sectional survey and was carried out to evaluate the factors
affecting the choice of Dental Profession by 1st BDS students. The study was approved by
institutional ethics committee(IEC No. ) and was conducted among 1st year BDS students from
VSPM,GDC,SDKS Nagpur .The purpose of this study was explained to the students and the
confidentiality was assured.

About 200 students participanted in the survery .A standardized self administered e-

questionnaire consisting of 30 close questions which were evaluated on Lickerts scale apart from
demographic data (Table 1). After collecting the data ,statistical analysis was done using IBM
SPSS 2020 . Results were obtained by using Chi Square Test and descriptive statistics were
expressed in cross tabulation and percentage with association between gender and responses .
Significance level was fixed at P<0.005

Results

There were two objectives in this study. The first one was to evaluate the factors affecting the
choice for selection of dentistry as a career.

The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions which were evaluated on five point Likhert’s scale
in which 30 factors were considered out of which 9 factors were significant . On the basis of
means and standard deviation, top 10 factors influencing the choice of dentistry as a career were
obtained which is shown in Table 1.
A career in dentistry offers financial security
4.06(0.75)
I like the autonomy that dentists have 4.02(0.84)
Dentistry has flexible work schedule 4.11(0.51)
I can start practice dentistry independently after graduation 4.08(0.70)
Table 1: Top 10 reasons for pursuing career in dentistry, as determined by mean rating
Rank Questions Mean(SD)
1 I want to be self employed 4.11(0.55)
2 Dentistry has flexible work schedule 4.10(0.55)
3 A career in dentistry offers financial security 4.03(0.80)
4 I want to treat/help people to improve their appearance 4.03(0.75)
5 I heard a talk about career in dentistry in college 4.03(0.75)
6 A career in dentistry offers job security 4.01(0.80)
7 One or more of my friends is a dentist 4.00(0.86)
8 I can start practice dentistry independently after graduation 4.00(0.81)
9 Dentistry is a caring profession 3.99(0.88)
10 I like the autonomy that dentists have 3.99(0.88)

The above table shows that most of the students want to be self-employed. Secondly mainly
A career in dentistry offers financial security 3.97(0.88) because
I like the autonomy that dentists have 3.94(0.96) of the
Dentistry has flexible work schedule 4.10(0.609) flexible
I would like to make a lot of money 3.99(0.76)
work

schedule, many of them have chosen Dentistry as their career. Also financial security played an
important role in the selection of career.

The second objective was to see the factors affecting the choice of career I males and female .

IN MALES

IN FEMALES
Based on the mean score , 13 out of the 30 questions came out to be significant .Out of which 4
factors which are ‘Financial security’, ‘Autonomy of the job’, ‘flexible work schedule’ and
‘independence right after graduation’

DISCUSSION :

A career is not just about earning income , it is about persuingones life

– Terry Mante

There are many students and their needs and expectation are different, and so is their choice of
career. Some go for defense sector, some opt for private sector and some go for business and
finding a suitable career isn’t a small task. It is definitely not that easy to assess ourselves from
so many angles, through the perspective of so many available career options and job.

The most difficult part of this endeavor is being sure about anything in particular. Sometimes we
decide something but life takes us to different paths and we stumble on things more suitable for
us. We fall in love with something sometimes and that may be out of conventional career choice
but it is good for us as far as our satisfaction is concerned. But above all we must not forget that
each and every career choice and field of trade is a golden opportunity, a chance to make a
difference in this world, to change the way things are, their very roots and form. In a way our
career choices reveal a lot about our own nature. Our qualities are tested in every way. Students
are forged in the fire of their passions and responsibilities as a leader and they make way for the
generations to move on with their moral duty.

Considering the above factors a study was conducted among 1st year dental students as they go
through similar circumstances while selecting their career after their secondary education and
they can guve an unbiased opinions regarding dentistry as they are not yet exposed to the
complexities regarding dentistry .

When students were questioned regarding their choice of career ,few factors which topped the
list among both male and female students are listed below with a brief discussion on each factor

1) Self employment , a pension for lifelong

Nowadays, many people choose to be self employed rather than to work for a company or under
supervision. As for the changing generation , the idea of being your own boss appears
fascinating. The ideology of unplanned leaves, freedom of servitude, the sole owner and the
pride in being the sole decision maker is rejuvenating which becomes one of the huge factor
influencing the choice of the students .

2) Flexible work

Flexible work schedule has become need of an hour . Every single person in today’s youth opts
comfort over hardwork. “Work from home” has become the new norm.

Even the CEOs of company were astonished, Mark Zuckerberg said “people are more productive
while working from home than anyone would have ever thought”. Humans comfort enhances his
creativity. Dentistry offers flexible work schedule which is very beneficial for womens as they
have to fulfil different roles in the society .

3) Financial Security

The other factor among top 3 is that “ A career in dentistry offers financial security”(4.03)

Financial security is the strongest factor which holds a great influence in ones present and future.
Financial securityis crucial for your family. Money does matter when you don't have it. When
you need it, you realise the value of it. In that sense, money will always have value.It has
influenced the choice for selecting BDS as a career of males as financial security for males
becomes even more important as he mostly the “ breadwinner” and owns the responsibility to
run the family.

Women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion have been recognized as key to
achieving the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development . Females from today’s youth are
reluctant to be codependant on their partner and are focused on becoming the core centre of their
profession and this has influenced the female students of 1st BDS while chosing their career.

In accordance with a similar study conducted by Z B Al-Bitar 1, H N Sonbol, I K Al-Omari [1]

in Arab students, with 79% response rate. Out of 604 students recruited 221students (46%) had
dentistry as a first choice. Prestige topped the list with maximum score 44.4%. It was concluded
that 'prestige' and 'helping people' were important motivating factors in this group of dental
students.

Bharath Kumar Garla [2] conducted his study among students from Gandhi Dental College
regarding career aspirations and reasons for choosing dentistry as a career among dental students
of Bhubaneswar India. 53.91% selected dental profession as a career because of their own
interest . 81.74% students were aspired by their friends to select dentistry as a career .

M Vigild [3] did a comparative study among Danish students. This study had a great emphasis on
social status a motive. Students believed that dentists have a greater work opportunities . This
differed significantly when compared to the results of the previous study conducted by M L
Crossley & A Mubarik[4] , A comparative investigation of dental and medical student's
motivation towards career choice[4] according to which social status and prestidge[4] were given
low importance .

The present study differed from the study conducted by Vaglum et al [5]. in which there was no
significant difference between the responses of males and female i.e no gender oriented response
was obtained .

According to the study conducted by A Mubarik[4] , the study showed parochial approach i.e lack
of social service among the students which differed from the study conducted by Garla and
Omari[2] .

According to the study conducted by M L Mesa, M Clark, G Austin, M Barden[6] in various

ethnic group who were focused more on the differences in the perceptions and beliefs of various
groups which influenced the choice of career of dental students that differed from other studies
as they were mostly evaluated based on financial stability and flexible work schedule. Brand et
al reported that dentistry offers no financial security which differs completely from India’s case
scenario where there are few dental job opportunities and the oral health provision is very poor
compared to other countries .

Conclusion

According to the present study, flexibility in work schedule is the prime factor affecting the
choice of dental students as it has toped the list in both male and female priorities . It is observed
that motives and priorites may be affected based on the gender. Difference in the response was
observed when it came flexibility in the work schedule and financial sercurity which were the
prime factors affecting the choice of aspiring female dentists. No significant difference in the
response was observed in influential factors like Family encouragement , the willingness to help
people or career related discussions in college. Self employement , job security and satisfactory
payscale were observed to important motives

Some suggestion based on the findings regarding the present study

1) The present study gives a broader view about the factors affecting the choice of students
creating an effective way to improvise the necessary factors
2) Group discussions should be held in junior colleges to give a broader view to the students
so that they more attracted to towards dentistry.
3) Teachers and councellors should come forward in various new ways to help society know
that dentistry is not limited to thirty two teeth
4) Job recruitments and various job opportunities should be made in order to increase the
financial stability for the budding dentists

References :
 1) Singh Aishwarya,Sudhanshu Saxena ,Tiwari Vidharti,Tiwari Utkarsh,Vineesh Vishnu.
First-year dental students’ motivation for choosing the dental profession: A questionnaire study
of budding dentists in Central India

2) Al-Bitar ZB, Sonbol HN, Al-Omari IK. Reasons for choosingdentistry as a career by Arab
dental students. Eur J Dent Educ2008;12:247-5

3) Garla BK. Career aspirations and reasons for choosingdentistry as a career: A survey of
dental students in GandhiDental College and Hospital, Bhubaneswar. Ann Essence
Dent2011;3:108-10.

4) Vigild M, Schwarz E. Characteristics and study motivation of Danish dental students in a

longitudinal perspective. Eur J Dent Educ 2001;5:127-33.

5) Crossley ML, Mubarik A. A comparative investigation of dentaland medical student’s

motivation towards career choice. Br DentJ 2002;193:471-3.

6)Vagum et al study in Université de Nantes

7) M L Mesa, M Clark, G Austin, M Barden .Ethnic and cultural determinants of the perceptions
of female dental students