Motivational reasons for choosing dentistry as a professional career & factors affecting specialty choice among final year dental students

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate factors affecting the choice of dentistry as a career as well as the choice of future specialty among senior dental students registered in British University of Egypt (BUE), during the academic year 2016/2017. A questionnaire form was downloaded from the students learning forum (e-learning), the students were then asked to fill up the form and hand it in during class. Results: Out of 200, 181 students responded to the survey, with a response rate of 90.5%. 67% of the students chose dentistry according to their own will, 20.1% due to family pressure, while only 12.8% were due to their high school grades. Fixed prosthodontics was the most favored specialty among the students who aimed for further postgraduate education (23.8%) while endodontics ranked as the second most popular specialty (22.7%) and Oral surgery came in the third rank (11%). There was a statistically significant difference between males and females in choosing fixed prosthodontics as well as oral pathology (p-value ≤ 0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that “High school category” showed statistical significance in the prediction, p < 0.05 Conclusion: 67% of our respondents think they were given sufficient inspiration and guidance to decide on future plans, while, 39% of these students were guided by faculty staff members, which constituted the highest influence rather than recommendations from practicing dentists, family members or friends.