| 1002 First year dental students' motivation to enter dental profession | ||
|
V. RAVAGHI, Queen Mary University of the London, United Kingdom, and B. MOLANAEI, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom Objectives: During preceding years, number of female students in Iran has risen remarkably. Factors which motivated students to choose dental profession, and gender differences specifically has been focus of attention in our study. Methods: All first year dental students of Tehran and Shahid Beheshti school of dental sciences have been queried regarding their motivations in open ended questionnaire. Reported motivations were categorised into seven dimensions to be tested by factor analysis. Then, students were asked to rate their motivations on five point likert type scale. Confidence interval of 95% was set for statistical significance using Mann-whitney non parametrical test. Results: All students who were invited primarily filled in the questionnaires which indicate one hundred response rate. The questionnaires were examined for reliability using test- retest analysis (alpha cronbach=0.73). we test factor analysis and validity of the questionnaire. We found that social status and serving the people were two most important motivations of choosing dental profession among first dental student. Male and female student reported different motivations for their career choices. Female students were more likely to be triggered by their social status while their male counterparts put more emphasis on the role of income in their decision making. Conclusion: Dental profession is considered as a prestigious profession in Iran. Female students are increasingly ask for more important social role in developing countries which can justify desire to enter dental profession. On the other hand, men traditionally have been bread winner of the households in Iran and enter dental profession to fulfill their financial expectations. Decreasing number of male students imply that dental profession is not as “money making” profession as it was. Taken as a whole, less working hours of female dentists show the necessity of recruiting more students to compensate probable shortcomings of manpower within health system. | ||
| Seq #115 - Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors: patients and providers 3:30 PM-4:45 PM, Thursday, March 22, 2007 Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Exhibit Hall I2-J | ||
|
Back to the Behavioral Sciences/Health Services Research Program
| ||