Abstract
BackgroundStudents’ motives for studying Dentistry have been a subject of interest for years because of the potential for understanding the psychological makeup and subsequent job satisfaction for the dentist. It is also useful in identifying expectations of the profession. This study therefore tried to identify study motives and career preferences of dental students especially with respect to the practice of paediatric dentistry.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire. The final year students in six dental schools in Nigeria were required to fill the questionnaire. Students were asked to rank their motives and career preferences on a Likert like scale with points ranging from 0–5 where 0 represented a factor that had no influence on their decision and 5 represented a very influential factor. The underlying dimensions for study motives, career preference, impression about and motive for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry were identified using factor analysis.ResultsOne hundred and seventy nine of 223 students (80.3%) participated in this study. Motives for the practice of dentistry included characteristics of the profession, altruism and intellectual challenges, existence of artistic theme in dentistry and parent’s recommendation. Overall, 67.1% of respondents indicated interest in postgraduate studies and 50.8% were interested in paediatric dentistry practice. The main motives for showing interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry were ‘personal interest, professional interest and interest of significant others in children’, and ‘family influence’. Significantly more males than females were interested in the practice of paediatric dentistry though the motives for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry did not differ significantly by sex or age.ConclusionThe non-significant sex difference in the motives for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry is a possible reflection of changes in strong cultural themes in the motives for career choices in Nigeria.
Highlights
Students’ motives for studying Dentistry have been a subject of interest for years because of the potential for understanding the psychological makeup and subsequent job satisfaction for the dentist
One study conducted in Nigeria about a quarter of them intended to specialize in oral surgery while 8.6% of them indicated a preference for paediatric dentistry [16]
By using the sum variables to identify the proportion of students who had each dimension as their highest ranked motive (Table 3), we found that the ‘characteristics of the profession’ was ranked first by 47.5% of the students followed by ‘altruism and intellectual challenge’ by 45.3% of the students
Summary
Students’ motives for studying Dentistry have been a subject of interest for years because of the potential for understanding the psychological makeup and subsequent job satisfaction for the dentist It is useful in identifying expectations of the profession. Previous studies have shown a tendency for the majority of the students to prefer to continue their education towards a specialty degree [7,13,14,15] This has implications for the dental workforce planning in any country. One study conducted in Nigeria about a quarter of them intended to specialize in oral surgery while 8.6% of them indicated a preference for paediatric dentistry [16]
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