Dentistry as a career: Motives and perception of dental students attending Dental Colleges in Bengaluru city, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Introduction: The present study reflects a profile of dental students and their attitudes toward dentistry. Aim: The aim was to determine the motives and perceptions of undergraduate and postgraduate dental students attending Dental Colleges in Bangalore city. Subjects and Methods: All the Dental Colleges in the Bangalore city were included in this study. The students were asked to complete a questionnaire consisting 25 questions. The influence of certain factors was scored on a scale from 1 to 9. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney test. Results: Two hundred and thirty-three (38.83%) students had dentistry as a first choice. In the present study, "caring profession" (94.33%) and private practice (25.6%) were the motives for choosing dentistry. Factor analysis was performed for Q9-23; the 15 questions were grouped under five factors: Influence, profession, flexibility, remuneration, and versatility. The level of agreement scores decreased from 1 st year B.D.S students to post graduate students. Conclusions: For selecting dentistry as a career job security, caring profession, flexibility, self-employment and prestigious profession were found to be important motivating and perception factors. Majority of students indicated that dentistry was not their first choice of career. Hence, it may be a good idea to establish educational programs in colleges to educate students on their career choices.

Keywords

• Career
• dentistry
• motives
• questionnaires
• students