Country and gender differences in the motivation of dental students-An international comparison

The interplay of spiritual health, resilience, and happiness: an evaluation among a group of dental students at a state university in Turkey

BACKGROUND

Dental education is one of the disciplines where students are most significantly affected psychologically. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between spiritual health, resilience and happiness levels of dental students at a state university in Turkey.

METHODS

This cross- sectional study included 212 students from the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades of the faculty of dentistry. A questionnaire consisting of 4 sections was used in the study. The sections of the questionnaire include students' general and academic information, Turkish adaptations of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale, The Brief Resilience Scale, and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form. Data analysis was performed with IBM SPSS 25 package program. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to assess the normal distribution of the data. The Mann-Whitney U test was preferred for comparisons between two categorical variables and one numerical variable. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was employed for comparisons involving two categorical variables and one numerical variable. The presence of a relationship between two numerical variables was examined using the Spearman test.

RESULTS

In terms of resilience and happiness scores, males had higher scores than females. It was determined that third graders scored higher than fifth graders in harmony with nature scores, and third graders scored higher than fourth graders in deregulation scores. There was a positive correlation between happiness, spiritual well-being and resilience; a negative correlation between happiness and anomie. There was no significant relationship between age and happiness scores. As a result of multiple linear regression to determine the factors affecting happiness; increases in spiritual well-being and resilience will lead to an increase in happiness levels.

CONCLUSION

This study concluded that increased levels of spiritual well-being and resilience among a group of dental students would lead to increased levels of happiness. However, further research is needed to understand the relationship between mental health, resilience and happiness levels during dental education.

Effect of morality or capitalist ideology in choosing dentistry as a career in Türkiye: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have provided important findings on the profession of dentistry and the motivators for choosing dentistry. This study has attempted to contribute to this accumulation by using a sociocultural perspective and interpreting the relationships among motivators from this perspective in a large Turkish sample. The aim of this study was to investigate what motivates dental students to choose dentistry as a career in Türkiye.

METHODS

First-year dental students from different dental schools were included in a descriptive cross-sectional study. The questionnaire included sections covering demographics, motivators and career satisfaction. A total of 919 students from 29 different state dental schools and four private dental schools participated. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, means and standard deviations were used to summarize the sociodemographic information and the distribution of the motivators. Factorial analysis was carried out for the structural status of the questionnaire items. The relationships between the motivators were analyzed using Pearson's correlation.

RESULTS

Among the 919 students, 64.2% were female, and 35.8% were male. Half of them chose dentistry after seeing their higher education institution's examination results, while the other half had already considered it a career during their preuniversity years. Communicating with people, artistic skills, and helping others were the main motivators for students to choose dentistry as a career in Türkiye, and students' overall career satisfaction was moderately high. The strongest correlations were between communication with people and benefits (r =.74), between communication with people and helping others (r =.71), between communication with people and artistic skills (r =.66), between artistic skills and benefits (r =.69), between artistic skills and helping others (r =.65), between dental experience and benefits (r =.51), between dental experience and helping others (r =.50), and between benefits and helping others (r =.71).

CONCLUSION

Helping others, artistic skills, communicating with people, and benefits were the most important factors motivating dental students to choose a career, and positive relationships were detected between these four factors. This information may help to develop more effective career guidance and mentorship strategies for dental students.

Correlation of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress with Coping Strategies Among Dentistry Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim: The aim of the study is to examine the level of stress and coping strategies of dentistry students in Türkiye in terms of variables such as sleep, personality, alcohol consumption, and smoking. Methods: A questionnaire including socio-demographic questions, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, and COPE Inventory was administered to 293 students. Results: The students' Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale scores were 13.88±10.03, 14.60±8.98, and 19.41±9.64, respectively. Income perception and the dentistry-personality relationship were the largest stress factors. No significant difference was found between years in terms of stress level. Problem-focus and emotional-focus coping strategies were negatively correlated, while less-useful coping strategies showed positive correlation with Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale scores. While the students who reported their sleep duration as "adequate" showed high problem-focus and emotional-focus coping scores, they had low less-useful coping strategies and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale scores. The students who deemed dentistry suitable for their personality had higher problem-focus and emotional-focus coping scores and lower low less-useful coping strategies scores. Although alcohol consumption and smoking were unrelated to stress, they showed positive correlation with low less-useful coping strategies scores. Conclusion: No difference was observed between the level and sources of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale and the grade. Students utilizing effective coping strategies had lower stress than those using less-useful coping strategies. Therefore, dental education should include how to acquire and use effective coping strategies. Keywords: depression, anxiety, coping strategies, dentistry, dental education

Career expectations and the motivating factors for studying dentistry in Libya

INTRODUCTION

This study investigated entry-level dental students' motives for studying dentistry at the University of Benghazi (UoB), Libya and career expectations among recent UoB graduates in an atypical context during the time of political unrest and identified factors associated with these motives.  METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2021-2022 for all entry-level dental students and recent dental graduates of UoB. A self-administered survey explored motives for studying dentistry, career expectation and associated factors. The questions were adopted from previous studies and pre-validated for use among Libyan students. Motives and career expectations were summarized, and their association with potential associated factors were assessed using chi-square test at p ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

One hundred eighty-four entry-level students and 156 recent graduates completed the surveys, response rates = 73.6% and 62.4%, respectively. The main motives to study dentistry were the desire to work in the healthcare field (183, 99.4%), interest in scientific knowledge (178, 96.7%) and because there were various dental specialities (168, 91.3%). The most common career expectations were setting up a business (107, 68.6%) and establishing a dental clinic (105, 67.3%). In addition, preference for working in the public sector (106, 67.9%), work-life balance (102, 65.4%) and financial gain (94, 60.3%) were the main factors associated with career expectations.

CONCLUSION

The main motive to join a dental school in Libya was academic interest. However, recent graduates showed more pragmatic expectations related to private practice ownership.

A Systematic Review: Study on Challenges Faced by Dental Interns in the Workforce: Suggestions for Pacific Nations

Aim

To identify challenges faced by dental interns in the workforce and to suggest Pacific Island Countries (PIC) on further research in this area.

Materials and Methods

A comprehensive search of Medline, Embase, Scopus and ProQuest databases was conducted using relevant keywords. All studies, published from 1st January 2000 to 31st January 2021, were taken into consideration. Removal of duplicates and screening the full-text articles using eligibility criteria were used to finalise the number of articles. The significant findings and conclusions were extracted and grouped under themes.

Results

A total of 16 studies met the inclusion criteria, involving dental interns, medical interns, postgraduate and undergraduate. Five themes were identified as the main challenges faced by dental interns in the workplace including workplace bullying, handling medical emergencies, community placement, lack of interdisciplinary approach and poor record keeping.

Conclusion

There is a need for PIC to conduct research and surveys, to identify the challenges its dental interns may be facing. This will create an ideal foundation from which strategies and initiatives can be implemented and enforced in the dental internship programme. Ensuring that oral health services are delivered efficiently and oral status of the Pacific is not compromised.

Motivations, attitudes for choosing dental profession and preferred dental specialties amongst Turkish dental students

AIM

The aim of the study was to investigate the influential factors for choosing dentistry, their thoughts about the profession, their expectations for the future and their thoughts about the specialisation of dental students from all grades in the School of Dentistry, Marmara University.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Socio-demographic information, influential factors the choice of profession, thoughts and expectations about dentistry, and thoughts about the specialisation were evaluated in the questionnaire that included different question types in four separate sections. Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between categorical variables, and multiple linear regression was performed to examine the combined effects of variables that influence the always dream of becoming a dentist.

RESULTS

462 of the 471 participants from all grades who agreed to participate in the study completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 98.1%. It was seen that the students' clinical experience made differences in almost half of their motivational sources for choosing dentistry and their views on future opinions and expectations (p < .05). In addition to clinical experience, gender also made a statistically significant differences in almost all answers in the students' opinions about specialisation (p < .05).

CONCLUSION

From the results of the study, the majority of Turkish dental students were self-motivated compared to familial and environmental factors for choosing dentistry as a career. The career motivations of them seemed to be associated with the socioeconomic aspects of dentistry, whereas the perceptions regarding the future of dentistry seemed to be associated with the need for postgraduate education.

Motives for studying dental medicine in Germany

INTRODUCTION

Aim of this study was to investigate the motives for studying dental medicine of pupils and students accepted for first semester.

METHODS

Motives of pupils from secondary schools (grades 10-12) around Tübingen and accepted students at the Dental School Tübingen were evaluated using a five-level Likert scale. Information about age, gender, family, apprenticeship and university enrolment was also included in the assessment.

RESULTS

A total of 402 out of 409 participants filled out the questionnaires. Of these, 390 (280 females and 110 males) could be evaluated; the mean age was 17.4 years. Sixty-one planned an apprenticeship and 64 already completed it; 93 were readily accepted at university. All participants highly rated the motives "help patients" and "good career prospects." As next, women chose "diversified activity" and men "scientific interest." Participants who planned an apprenticeship rated "help patients" significantly higher than the other participants, whilst the motive "high responsibility of the dental profession" amongst interviewees with completed apprenticeship was highly significant in comparison with the rest.

CONCLUSION

Empathy for patients and high responsibility of the dental profession are more important than prestige or social standing. An apprenticeship seems to greatly influence the career choice by giving more weight to "high responsibility of the dental profession." In future, such results can help universities design selection tests to target specific groups. The high proportion of female dentists and the attitude towards work and family of the generations Y and Z may bring change to the traditional practice model in Germany.

Motivations and future plans of the final year students in a Chinese dental school

BACKGROUND

Understanding dental students' future career choice and motivation could provide beneficial references for both educators and students, but there were few studies on students in a Chinese dental school. The study aimed to investigate Chinese final year dental students' the short-term and long-term plans, motivations, and identify the influence of gender on the future plans.

METHODS

A total of 265 final year dental school students of the School of Stomatology, China Medical University from 2016 through 2020 were invited to complete an anonymous, 27-item questionnaire. Moreover, almost all of questions were in multiple-choice formats. Data were categorized and analysed using chi-square comparative analyses.

RESULTS

88.3% of respondents decided to pursue a graduate degree after graduating from dental school. Moreover, the single most important reason influencing their plans was "eligible for better jobs" (42.8%). More females than males studied dentistry (222 vs 111), and gender had an influence on the choice of specialty.

CONCLUSIONS

This study listed the selection tendency and influencing factors of students in a Chinese dental school for the reference of educators and students. And the results could raise some useful influence and feedback effect on current health and education policy, and on the career development of practicing dentists or dental students.

Gender differences in dentistry: A qualitative study on students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for entering dentistry at higher education

INTRODUCTION

Having a balanced gender distribution is thought to ensure the diversity of knowledge and know-how and take better into account the different needs in society. The aim of the study is to explore and understand possible gender differences in (a) the students' motivational spectrum to choose a dental education and (b) their prospect of a professional career in dentistry.

METHODS

We conducted in-depth interviews with male and female dental students (n = 14) followed by a theoretical reading based on Self-Determination Theory to explore the students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for entering dentistry in Denmark.

RESULTS

Regardless gender, the dental students are motivated by role models, people orientation and strong interest in health sciences, but prefer dentistry to medicine, because of the responsibilities and working conditions. They were also motivated by the dental school's combination of theory and practice in students' learning of craftsmanship. Moreover, students valued the prospect of job security and a good work-life balance. However, there were markedly gender differences in motivation in relation to financial incentives as well as working life and career as a dentist, as it seemed that dental students needed gendered relatedness in relation to specialisation and employment in public versus private sector.

CONCLUSION

The motivational spectrum varies widely, regardless of gender. In line with the standpoint feminist theory, a balanced gender distribution in dental education helps to meet the different needs in society and labour market. Consequently, a gender-sensitive recruitment strategy reflecting the gender differences in identities, knowledge and interests will be needed.

Students at Saarland University dental school-A survey on their background and curriculum perception

INTRODUCTION

With the aim of optimising dental education without overburdening students, new legislation restructuring the undergraduate dental curriculum in German is under way. The goal of this study was to survey the current situation of dental students at one specific university with respect to their socio-economic background, admission to dental school, curriculum perception and work-life balance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An online questionnaire was presented to all undergraduate students enrolled at Saarland University who had at least completed the first preclinical practical course in dentistry.

RESULTS

A response rate of 85% was reached with two-thirds of the student body being females. The profession of 40% of students' parents either was physicians or dentist. Students reported a slight reduction in time spent for leisure activities during their studies, however, with sports activities hardly being affected. With respect to a proper work-life balance, almost 50% of respondents considered their clinical workload as being too high. Students did not express a clear opinion regarding curriculum structure, whilst the content mostly satisfied their expectations (59%). The majority (71%) of students considered their preclinical training as being demanding whilst less than 3% fully agreed that preclinical training provided an optimal background for patient treatment. The learning modules in the first clinical semester were considered as being adequate by 56% of students. Examinations during courses were seen as properly reflecting the students' knowledge by 79% of students.

DISCUSSION

The status quo of German dental students is characterised by a high workload affecting the students' work-life balance and by a transition between preclinical and clinical education which only about half the student body perceives as being adequate. Patient-based examinations obviously are not considered as being problematic.

Norwegian Orthodontists' Experience and Challenges With Treatment of Patients With Cleft Lip and Palate

Background:

Patients born with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) have orthodontic treatment challenges due to maxilla deficiency, malocclusions, and dental abnormalities. In Norway, orthodontic treatment is done by centralized CL/P teams. Due to traveling restrictions, this treatment might be done locally in the future. The experience of Norwegian community orthodontists in managing such patients has not been investigated previously.

Objective:

To assess Norwegian orthodontists’ management of patients with CL/P and need for further education.

Material and Methods:

All orthodontists in Norway were sent a questionnaire about their experience, challenges, and knowledge and asked about their need of further theoretical education and clinical training in the management of patients with CL/P.

Results:

Norwegian orthodontists’ standard of knowledge of CL/P treatment is adequate. However, few respondents have treated a high number of cleft patients. Eighty-six percent of the participants believed that treating CL/P patients involves challenges, such as time-consuming treatment and technical difficulties. Increased perceived need for more education was revealed among participants stated unpreparedness during education (4 folds), encountered challenges, and lack of knowledge (almost 3 folds).

Conclusions:

The study revealed that community orthodontists in Norway lack experience and acknowledged the challenges in treating patients with CL/P. Most of the respondents perceived a need for additional education and clinical training to treat CL/P patients competently. The findings suggested more focus on patients with CL/P management in the curricula and more collaboration between centralized CL/P teams and community orthodontists.

Factors influencing student choice of a degree in physiotherapy: a population-based study in Catalonia (Spain)

Background

In other healthcare professions, there has been extensive research into students' motivation, but studies aiming to determine what leads individuals to choose a degree in physiotherapy are scarce. This research study had three main objectives: to obtain a sociodemographic profile of first-year physiotherapy students in Catalonia; to determine the factors that lead individuals to choose a degree in physiotherapy; and to determine potential differences, according to gender and country of origin.

Methods

This is an observational, cross-sectional, multicentre study. Data were collected by means of a self-administered, ad-hoc questionnaire, consisting of 15 Likert scale questions, options ranging from "not influencing at all -1-" to "extremely influencing -5-". Ten out of the twelve universities in Catalonia (Spain) that offer a degree in physiotherapy participated in this study. The sample consisted of 941 first-year physiotherapy students (55.2% men; mean age 20.1, SD: 3.4).

Results

The most determinant factors leading individuals to pursue a degree in physiotherapy were: helping others (95.6%); the relationship between physiotherapy and sports (79%); physiotherapy involving manual work (76.4%); and it being perceived as providing multiple job opportunities (75.9%). Male and French students were attracted due to its relation to sports (MD = 0.369, p < 0.001 and MD = 0.130, p < 0.027), perception of it being an easy degree (MD = 0.148, p < 0.001 and MD = 0.091, p < 0.037), admiration for a known physiotherapist (MD = 0.223, p = 0.006 and MD = 0.265, p = 0.001), employability (MD = 0.297, p < 0.001 and MD = 0.706, p < 0.001), good income (MD = 0.190, p = 0.002 and MD = 0.609, p < 0.001) and social recognition (MD = 0.164, p = 0.011 and MD = 0.286, p < 0.001). Helping others (MD = -0.149, p < 0.001) and interest in the sciences (MD = -0.164, p = 0.030) were more determinant for female students. Male students were more guided by recommendation (MD = 0.234, p = 0.001) and to complement previous studies (MD = 0.237, p = 0.016). French students tended to present more interest in the selection of physiotherapy as a wish since childhood (MD = 0.595, p < 0.001), due to its multiple job opportunities (MD = 0.427, p < 0.001) and because of manual work, and did not choose it to complement previous studies (MD = -1.122, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

The desire to help and care for others, the relation to sports, and involving manual work are the predominant factors that lead students to pursue a degree in physiotherapy. Female students favour helping others and science, whereas male students favour its relation to sports, complementing studies, social factors (admiration, recommendation, friendship) and socioeconomic determinants such as employability, good income or social recognition. When compared to Spanish students, French students were more motivated by its connection to sports, social and socioeconomic factors and some vocational determinants such as being a wish since childhood and interest in a manual profession.

Oral Health Attitudes among Preclinical and Clinical Dental Students: A Pilot Study and Self-Assessment in an Egyptian State-Funded University

Dentists should present to patients as good role models in their oral health behaviour. Previous studies have demonstrated how education can improve dental students’ oral health. This pilot investigation aimed to compare and evaluate the features of the oral health behaviour and attitudes of preclinical and clinical dental students at Ain Shams University, a public Egyptian university. The Hiroshima University-Dental Behaviour Inventory (HU-DBI) survey was provided to 149 (78 female/71 male) dental students. Dichotomised (agree/disagree) answers to 20 HU-DBI items were possible, with a maximum conceivable score of 19. An estimation of oral health behaviour and attitudes was calculated by the sum of correct oral health answers to every item by the study groups and evaluated statistically. The score of oral health-favouring answers was higher in clinical (11.50) than preclinical students (10.63) and was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Single-item evaluations showed no statistical significance, except in one survey item. This survey exhibited weak differences in the improvement of oral hygiene behaviour and attitudes between participating preclinical and clinical students, as well as overall poor oral health behaviour in both groups. This inadequacy of Egyptian public dental education in terms of sufficient student oral health progress emphasises the necessity for supplementary courses and curricular reviews that accentuate the need for future dentists to display the correct oral health behaviour.

Expectations Regarding Dental Practice: A Cross-Sectional Survey of European Dental Students

Obtaining information on expectations among dental students regarding their career planning was the main purpose of this observational online survey. The questionnaire was designed with 18 items in five different languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Data were collected on nationality, age, sex, country of residence, university attended, semester, expected year of graduation and expectations about future career. More than 3000 participants (n = 3851, 2863 females 74.34% and 988 males 25.66% with a sex ratio of 0.35) participated in the survey. Almost one-third (31.29%) of the participants plan to start their own practice at least three years after vocational training, a quarter (25.76%) after three, and only 12.59% after one year. A positive influence of the family in the decision to start a practice was observed in 50.07% of the sample with a statistically significant difference regarding sex (p < 0.01). Almost one-third of the participants did not wish to work in an institution run by private equity or insurance companies, while 21.79% would work in that environment (p < 0.01). European dental students desire mainly to become self-employed and start their own practice. New professional practices also offer them options for their future career that they have not yet decided on or thought about.

Motivations for a Career in Dentistry among Dental Students and Dental Interns in Kenya

A number of factors have been cited as determinants for choosing a career in dentistry around the globe. The purpose of this study was to determine motivations for a career in dentistry among dental students and dental interns in Kenya. This was a cross-sectional study where 293 individuals participated by filling and returning self-administered questionnaires. The mean age of all respondents was 22.3 years. Overall, 59.5% of the respondents had selected dentistry as their preferred career at the end of high school. Majority (76.1%) of the respondents agreed that personal interest in dentistry was an important motivating factor for them. This was followed closely by a desire to help or serve people (74%), a desire for a flexible work schedule (63%), and an aspiration to be self-employed (61.8%). There was no difference between males and females regarding these as motivating factors. On the other hand, among factors that the respondents felt had the lowest influence on their choice of dentistry was parental influence, where only 22% of the respondents indicated that this was a motivating factor for them. Other potential motivating factors such as influence by friends and siblings (30.3%) as well as career talk and guidance (41.3%) were also ranked low. In general, the respondents indicated that they were motivated much more by personal and humanitarian factors, when compared to financial and societal factors.

Oral Health Attitudes among Preclinical and Clinical Dental Students in Germany

Oral health care providers are expected to show good examples of oral health behaviours and attitudes to their community. Previous studies displayed the constructive effect of dental education on oral hygiene manners of undergraduate students. The aim of this survey was to assess and compare aspects of oral health attitudes and behaviours between preclinical and clinical dental students in German universities. The German-language version of the HU-DBI was distributed to preclinical and clinical students from different German universities. Dichotomized (agree/disagree) responses to 20 HU-DBI items were provided in this study, with a maximum possible score of 19. A quantitative estimate of oral health attitudes and behaviours was provided by the total of appropriate answers given to every statement by each group. Data were analysed statistically. The overall mean score of answers favouring good oral hygiene was marginally higher in preclinical (14.62) than clinical students (14.31) but showed no statistical significance. Similarly, the analysis of each item individually displayed no statistically significant differences between preclinical and clinical participants, except in a single item of the survey. This study showed no effective differences in oral hygiene attitudes and behaviour between preclinical and clinical students in German universities. This reveals a weak effect of dental education on improving students' oral health attitudes in Germany and might demand the introduction of more courses emphasizing the importance of correct oral health behaviour of health care providers.

Demographics of Postgraduate Training Course at Tokyo Dental College Department of Orthodontics and Alumni Working Trends

The postgraduate training course at the Department of Orthodontics of Tokyo Dental College, which started in April 1975, comprises a 3-year curriculum aimed at fostering orthodontic specialists. A system of Accreditation for Orthodontists was introduced by the Japan Orthodontic Society in 1990, since which time, this postgraduate training course has also sought to provide the basic training required to obtain such certification. The purpose of this study was to investigate the demographics of the students on this course and the current work status of its graduates by means of a questionnaire-based survey. The results revealed that, when the fortieth intake of students graduated in March 2017, the total number completing the course had reached 326. The annual mean number of students on this course was 8.2, and recent years have seen a marked increase in the number of women enrolling. In total, 37.5% of the questionnaire respondents had opened orthodontic clinics; 14.8% had opened general dentistry clinics; and 42.6% were working as employees. In addition, 46.2% had an additional place of employment other than their principal place of employment, mainly at a general dentistry clinic. Regarding the field of treatment, 82.4% provided solely orthodontic treatment. We believe that this may because all the responders had completed the postgraduate orthodontics course. The rate of earning accreditation as an orthodontist was high (82.4%), with no difference in the rate of acquisition between men and women. The rate of qualification as a Board-certified orthodontist was 17.9%, with the rate of acquisition by women approximately half of that by men. The number of female orthodontists is rising, and no difference was observed between sexes in the rate of acquiring accreditation as an orthodontist. Women were found to be lagging behind men, however, in regard to the rate of advancement to masters/PHD programs; qualifying as a Board-certified orthodontist; opening an orthodontic practice; and number of days worked. These findings suggest that there are differences in regard to the actual working conditions among the alumni of our postgraduate orthodontic training course, and that these differences are sex-based.