EXPLORING POTENTIAL CAREER CHALLENGES AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS INFLUENCING DENTAL STUDENTS, HOUSE OFFICERS AND RESIDENTS IN A PUBLIC SECTOR UNIVERSITY, KARACHI PAKISTAN - A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Objectives: To find out dental students' opinions about their future career challenges in the dental profession, and to recognize factors associated with career challenges faced by dental students, house officers, and residents in a public sector university, Karachi. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Sindh Institute of Oral Health Sciences on dental undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students currently enrolled at Jinnah Sindh Medical University in November and December 2023. Participants were asked to complete a closed-ended questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale specifically designed to record relevant items about their career challenges. The data was then analyzed through SPSS version 24. Results: A total of 163 people participated in the study with the majority being females (63.8%, n=104), the majority from second-year BDS (23.9%, n=39) with most scoring below 80% academically. Both parents had a university education (52.5%, n=171) and a monthly income of more than 80,000/=PKR (58%,n=94). The majority reported facing difficulty in securing a job in the government sector (74.2%), local postgraduate course (77.9%), postgraduate courses abroad difficult and expensive (68.1%) and quackery may affect their job prospects negatively(69.3%). The factors that showed positive association included “facing competition for government sector jobs” and “the difficulty of obtaining a job as a lecturer” at p-value=0.05. Conclusion: Young dentists perceive finding jobs in the public sector and getting admission to postgraduate courses as difficult in comparison to getting hired at a private clinic. All these hindrances can be avoided by arranging job fairs and career counseling sessions for students and graduates. KEYWORDS: Career Choice, Motivation, Goals, Specialization, Workforce