Monitoring career impact and satisfaction in a graduate program in dentistry.

Introduction: The assessment of student outcomes is essential for monitoring the quality of graduate programs in healthcare sciences. As such, this study focused on developing a self-employed questionnaire that allowed for the evaluation of elements focused on career impact and levels of satisfaction regarding graduate program education. Following, this instrument was utilized in a cross-sectional study design with alumni that had obtained their degree (MSc or PhD) over a 25-year span (1995-2020) from a graduate program in dentistry located in Brazil.

Methods: The employed instrument comprised a total of 43 questions presenting a mix of both close and open-ended questions coupled with 5-point Likert scales. The questionnaire was hosted online and a total of 528 alumni were invited to participate through e-mail and social media outreach.

Results: 376 alumni answered the questionnaire (71.2% response rate). The majority were female (69.9%), and with a MSc (58.5%). Levels of satisfaction towards the program as well the impact in career and life were higher in alumni that had obtained a PhD degree compared to MSc. After obtaining the degree, an increase in involvement in teaching/research positions (3.4% vs 21.5%, p < 001) and a decrease in unemployment (21.9% vs 2.1%, p < 001) were observed. The highest levels of impact were observed regarding the achievement of the professional goals as nearly 90% of the population agreed with this statement.

Conclusions: This study highlighted the creation and employment of an assessment tool that can be utilized to monitor the perceptions of student outcomes. Among the findings, a decrease in unemployment and a high degree of career impact and satisfaction were observed in the population of this study. Moving forward, it is essential that monitoring educational outcomes remains a priority worldwide.