Gender Differences in Work Status during Early Career of Dentists: An Analysis of National Survey Cohort Data of 10 Years in Japan

Factors Influencing the Selection of Dentistry as a Career Among Prospective Candidates: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to analyse the impact of sociodemographic factors on dental school candidates' decision to pursue dentistry as their career of choice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Candidates shortlisted by three dental schools were invited to participate in a self-administered questionnaire study, featuring a validated instrument containing sociodemographic questions and 16 motivational items grouped into four domains: economic, professional, vocational and personal background reasons. The variations in motivational item scores across sociodemographic factors were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test (age, sex, ethnicity, having relatives in the dental profession and dentistry as the first choice) and Kruskal-Wallis test (dental school and family income).

RESULTS

A total of 295 dental school candidates participated in the study (Universiti Teknologi MARA: 137; Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia: 99; MAHSA University: 59). Approximately 95% of participants identified dentistry as their primary career choice, with the vocational motivation of 'I like to help people' being the most prominent motivational factor. Dental school emerged as the critical factor significantly influencing three quarters of the motivational items. Sex, ethnicity and having relatives in the dental profession were the remaining factors significantly associated with variations in certain motivational items. Both dental school and ethnicity significantly affected four motivational domains (economic, professional, vocational and personal background).

CONCLUSION

This study provides an insightful overview of the sociodemographic factors that impact career decision-making among prospective dental students. The scores for most motivational items varied among shortlisted candidates in three dental schools. The findings hold implications for policy development in dentistry by universities and public policymakers.

Evaluation of Burnout among Medical Officers and Dental Surgeons in State Health Services using Maslach's Burnout Inventory during COVID-19: A Cross Sectional Study

Introduction

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic became a worldwide public health crisis. It leads to raised levels of burnout and anxiety among the people of the medical and dental fraternity, especially those involved in various duties related to COVID-19. The present research focused on evaluating the prevalence and predictors of burnout among medical officers and dental surgeons in Haryana's state dental health services.

Materials and Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess burnout among medical officers and dental surgeons involved in COVID-19-related duties in state health services. Maslach's burnout scale was used to evaluate burnout. It is a prevalidated and self-administered questionnaire with three domains, that is, emotional exhaustion (EE), personal accomplishment (PA) assessment, and depersonalization (DP). The Chi square test, Student's t test (unpaired), and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc analysis were done wherever applicable. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to check the relationship among EE, DP, and PA.

Results

A total of 200 study participants responded to the online survey. Nearly half of them (51%) were aged 25-34 years. The majority had service experience of up to 20 years (90%). Almost three-fourths (72%) of study participants performed duties for >8 h a day. Up to 86% reported that the second wave of COVID-19 caused increased burnout. Moderate-to-high degrees of occupational exhaustion (OE) and DP were reported among approximately 42% of study participants. Medical officers were reported to have statistically significantly higher levels of burnout compared to dental surgeons (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Moderate levels of burnout were reported among half of the study participants, suggestive of the need to address the issues related to mental health of healthcare providers.

Dental hygiene and dental students' motivations for future work: a cross-sectional study of first-year students at a dental hygiene school and a dental school in Japan

BACKGROUND

It is important to understand the career motivations and perceptions of students who intend to become dental health professionals. Both dental and dental hygiene students may have different opinions about the profession and future work prospects. To our knowledge, no study has compared the career motivations and career perceptions of Japanese dental and dental hygiene students after admission to dental or dental hygiene school. This cross-sectional study examined the motivations of dental and dental hygiene students for their future career perceptions.  METHODS: First-year students of dental and dental hygiene schools in the academic years 2021 and 2022 participated in the study. Group 1 comprised 104 female dental hygiene students, Group 2-1 comprised 55 female dental students, and Group 2-2 comprised 61 male dental students. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted on opinions of the work and prospects of future work with four-point Likert scales ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree," according to the items.

RESULTS

Dental hygiene students consider that they would like to work as professionals and would also like to earn efficiently. Specifically, female dental students prioritized contributing to society by working long-term in a fulfilling environment rather than earning an income, whereas male dental students would like to work as a professional while also effectively earning income.

CONCLUSIONS

Small but significant differences were found in opinions of the dental hygienist/dentist profession in terms of attractiveness and credibility. Small but significant differences were found for income and working hours when considering future job prospects. The results of this study revealed differences in the first year students between dental and dental hygiene school in their attitudes toward career motivation and prospects for future work.

Burnout assessment among academic dental staff during COVID-19: Data from Arab countries

Purpose/objective

This study aimed to identify factors that were associated with high burnout and investigate the prevalence of burnout among academic dental staff during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Method

A cross‐sectional online survey was carried out among academic dentists who are working in multiple dental schools in Arab countries. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used to assess participants’ work‐related burnout. Logistic regression was used to assess the factors that increase the risk of burnout among academic dentists.

Results

Of the 254 participants who took part in the study, 141 were males (55.5%). The average age of the participants in the study was 42.1 years (standard deviation = 10.0). The prevalence of burnout among participants was 44.9% (n = 114). Using a fully adjusted logistic regression model, age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–1.09, p = 0.008) and gender (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.31–0.94, p = 0.03) were significant variables associated with high overall burnout. Female individuals had a substantially reduced risk of experiencing high personal burnout than male participants (OR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.32–0.98, p = 0.043) in the personal burnout subdomain. While in the patient's burnout subdomain, age (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00–1.08, p = 0.048), type of speciality (OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.02–5.83, p = 0.044), and teaching place (OR = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.21–5.11, p = 0.013) were associated with higher burnout.

Conclusion

This study concluded that gender and age are characteristics that increase the risk of higher burnout among academic dentists during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Influence of Oral Health Care Systems on Future Career Environment of Dental Students in Europe

Oral healthcare is organized subsidiarily and independently by nation states in Europe and also within the EU and consequently, major differences between the nation states and the various oral healthcare systems in Europe are present. The socialization in the respective catchment area can have an impact on the job choice and the perception of employment opportunities of different professional groups. Therefore, the purpose of this survey was to elucidate the influence of different oral healthcare systems on students living or studying in the respective catchment area. A questionnaire (in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) with 18 different components was administered. Data on gender, age, country of origin, university, semester, nationality, expected time of graduation, and forecast for future professional practices were gathered. In addition, 3851 students participated (2863 f/988 m). The sample distribution was uneven with predominantly Bismarckian and Southern European System participants. The National oral health care system was statistically significantly linked (p < 0.01) to the ownership period of a dental practice. Students in Bismarckian and Nordic systems tended to find their own practice earlier than in the Beverdigian system or Southern European and Transitional-East European systems. An association between the oral health care system and vocational training was inhomogeneous, but also significantly different (p < 0.01). The majority (47.51%, n = 1555) would like to work in their own practice, 18.95% (n = 621) want to establish a practice with two or more owners. It was striking that no student would like to work in the investor practice/practice chain of both Nordic, Beveridgian and Transitional-East European countries systems (p < 0.01). The oral health care system in which a dental student grows up/resides/studies influences the career choice/perception of future professional practice.