Abstract
Introduction: Despite progressive statistics, the oral healthcare system suffers from an unevenly distributed workforce, lack of infrastructure, and reduced quality of dental education. As a result, dental graduates have decreased job satisfaction and limited career prospects. This article assesses the perceptions of dental graduates regarding their workforce skills, abilities, and employment preferences. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study targeting House-Officers from various randomly selected dental teaching institutes of Lahore. The study tool was a modified version of the questionnaire used by Manakil and George [13] and assessed the perceptions of dental graduates regarding their workforce skills and preferences. This study aimed to evaluate self-perceived confidence of new dental graduates, and investigate the relationship between gender perceptions. Results: The sample size was of 256 House- Officers. Most participants were confident in their skills and abilities with 167 (65.4%) individuals confident in workforce integration, 166 (64.8%) confident in their patient management skills, 154(60.2%) confident in their interpersonal skills and 163 (63.7%) confident in their leadership abilities. Mentorship was considered to be crucial by 207 (80.9%) individuals. Two hundred and thirty-three (91%) individuals were willing for an additional year of internship and 174 (68%) participants chose a city-based employment. The government sector was the most preferred for employment by 122 (47.7%) individuals whereas research was least preferred. Conclusion: It is imperative that career development and mentorship programs are put into practice, incentives are provided to work in rural areas and research culture is promoted.
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