Professional identity, career choices, and working conditions of future and young dentists in Germany - study design and methods of a nationwide comprehensive survey

Influence of Selected Environmental Factors on the Business Type of Dentist's Practice in Germany: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Process With an Analytical Hierarchy Process

In the interests of satisfying the dental services demands of German citizens area-wide, constant, and thoughtful planning of supply and demand is essential. With an anonymous online survey of 375 dentists a pairwise comparison of 9 factors extracted as relevant from the existing scientific literature were analyzed with an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and ranked considering the various business types. In general, 5 local environmental factors have a dominant impact on founders' decision in German dentistry. In order: environment for the family, quality of life in private environment, real income, location of the practice, infrastructure. Real income is in first place (p = 0.287) for dentists who want to start a new single practice. For preferring a new community practice, it is on third place (p = 0.177) and for dentists who favor a takeover a single practice (p = 0.130) or joining a community practice (p = 0.096) or employment (p = 0.111) it is fourth place. For this purpose, the location of the practice is of greater priority than the real income for dentists who prefer not to start a new practice. The AHP method is a way to picture a priority list out of all relevant factors for setting up of a dental practice.

Location Factors Impact the Career Choice of German Dental Practitioners - An Empirical Analytical Approach to Multi-Criteria Decision-Making

Objectives

In light of the increasing number of employed dentists and the decreasing rate of self-employed dentists, the factors that impact the decision to set up a dental office in Germany were investigated. Central to this approach is the provision of comprehensive dental care.

Methods

Using a pairwise comparison technique, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), location factors identified as relevant in a systematic literature review and then prioritized by the professionals were weighted and ranked.

Results

According to this, five factors generally dominate the decision to open a dental office. These are, in descending order: environment for the family, quality of life in the private environment, real income, perception of location, and good infrastructure. The strongest impact on the rank order of the influencing factors is the socio-demographic characteristic of gender. For female dentists, the family environment is in the first place (p  =  .3196/C.R.  =  0.1502). For male colleagues, this influence ranks third (p  =  .1550/C.R.  =  0.1468) and real income receives the first place (p  =  .244/C.R.  =  0.1468). For female dentists, the influence of income ranks fifth (p  =  .076/C.R.  =  0.1502). Female and male dentists who grew up in rural areas were less likely to prefer employment (13.6%) than subjects of urban origin (40.2%).

Conclusion

The method of AHP is a way to map a priority list of all relevant factors. It can successfully show variations related to specific personal attributes. Obviously, there are factors that are of greater importance for the decision-making process to set up a dental office.

How do dental students perceive the role of dental professionals?

OBJECTIVES

To explore dental students' perceptions of the role of dental professionals as healthcare providers and/or businesspersons.

METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey collected information from undergraduate dental students at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto (N = 430). PPR was assessed through a visual analog scale (VAS) question, with the two ends labeled as "Healthcare Provider" (0) and "Business Person" (100), which asked respondents to point where they perceived dental professionals to be. Association of students' PPR with environmental, institutional and student-related factors was investigated using Chi-square and Spearman's correlation tests and logistic regression. Additionally, information on students' professional attitudes was gathered using: (i) the same VAS question, which asked students what they themselves aspired to be; and (ii) level of agreement with two sets of Likert-type questions highlighting healthcare provider and businessperson attitudes.

RESULTS

The survey yielded a response rate of 51.4% (n = 221). The majority of respondents perceived dental professionals as healthcare providers and aspired to be healthcare providers themselves. Results of multivariable logistic regression suggested that perceiving dental professionals as businesspersons was significantly associated with perceiving future patients as consumers. Those who strongly agreed with healthcare provider statements had lesser odds of perceiving dental professionals as businesspersons.

CONCLUSION

In this sample of students, perceptions of professionalism appear to be congruent with the normative role of dental professionals as healthcare providers. Dental education should prepare graduates who strongly identify with this role even in the presence of dental care market pressures.

Work situation and prospects of recently graduated dentists in the Netherlands

INTRODUCTION

Dentists who have graduated recently from a Dutch dental school work mainly in the Netherlands, where collaboration and differentiation are relevant factors. Furthermore, the Netherlands face regional undersupplies of dentists. The objective of this study was to describe choices and aims of recently graduated dentists for the near future.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An invitation for the web questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 945 dentists who had graduated from a Dutch dental school between 2013 and 2017, of whom 230 (24.3%) participated in the survey.

RESULTS

Approximately three quarters (77%) of the recently graduated dentists worked as a general dentist in a practice of some else, primarily in urban areas. The choice for a practice was affected by location, earnings, and the opportunity to gain experience. Furthermore, the career choices were affected most by the desired length of the working week and financial security. The narrow majority (53%) of the recently graduated dentists believed that in 5 years they will be practice owner; 49% expected to be a differentiated dentist. Furthermore, 41% believed they will work in a smaller municipality.

DISCUSSION

Although recently graduated dentists seem receptive to work in smaller municipalities, the peripheral regions are conceivably less appealing. Practice ownership conceivably is an option for the near future for a narrow majority of the recently graduated dentists.

CONCLUSION

Recently graduated dentists have different preferences regarding their work situation in 5 years.

The reproduction of gender differences in early career choices and professional identity of young dentist in Finland

INTRODUCTION

For over the last 20 years, approximately 70% of working dentists in Finland have been women. However, there is internal division of the profession along gender lines. Female dentists work more often in the public sector and male dentists in the private sector. The aim of this study was to investigate the gender differences in young dentists' early career choices, specialization plans, values and perceptions of professional identity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The data were taken from a national e-mail questionnaire study called "Young Dentist," which was sent to 458 dentists who had received their licence to practise dentistry in 2014-2016 from all four universities with dental curricula in Finland. A total of 52% young dentists (n = 238) answered the questionnaire.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results indicated that whereas female dentists were more likely to perceive themselves as comforters, social workers and health promoters, male dentists tended to perceive themselves as technicians. These professional identities were interrelated with early-stage career choices in which female dentists worked more often in the public than in the private sector when compared to male dentists. There were also clear gender differences in the importance of values and the specialization plans of the young dentists.

CONCLUSION

Young dentists in Finland make career choices and develop professional identity in accordance with the attributes traditionally associated with cultural ideals related to femininity and masculinity.

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.

Career Prospects of Young Dentists in Switzerland

The observational cross-sectional study was aimed to obtain information on the promotion and development of young professionals in Switzerland. An online survey with 20 questions was sent out. Data was collected on participants’ demographic data, including age, gender, level of qualification, place of work, information on employment, future perspectives, and career prospects. The survey was sent out to 1920 practitioners, of which 440 (22.9%) responded (37.1% males and 62.9% females). Of them, 76.6% were members of the Swiss Dental Association (SSO) 15.9% students, and 7.5% non-SSO members. Most participants had parents with a dental education (80.9%), and 19.8% did not. Young dentists in Switzerland most often saw their career prospects as neutral (39.8%) or rather positive (39.3%). Whereas significantly fewer dentists had a negative view of their professional future (16.8%), including more women than men, the fewest dentists of both sexes (4.1%) saw their career prospects as positive by far. The majority of young dentists were satisfied with their career prospects. Within the limitations of the current study, the reasons for this need further investigation. Despite good career prospects, there is a desire among young colleagues for cantonal practice assistance and mentoring programs, as well as support in finding a job and in taking the plunge into self-employment.