Pedodontics and preventive dentistry as career option: post graduate student’s perspective

Authors

  • Sultan S. Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Kothiwal Dental College, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20180319

Keywords:

Pedodontics, Preventive dentistry

Abstract

Background: In dentistry choosing a postgraduate branch after bachelor’s degree is quite complex and difficult, as all specialties have their own significance and application. In such situation dental graduate should evaluate his own capability and interest rather than any pressure or persuasion from his friends or parents and hence accordingly make his selection for post-graduation specialization. The ambitions of an aspiring candidate in a particular specialty in turn contribute a lot for the future of that specialty especially in pedodontics which has the responsibility of detecting and early intervention regarding dental caries and other oral health related problem. The aim and objective of this study was to evaluate the reasons of post graduate students in private and government dental colleges in India for selection pedodontics and preventive dentistry as career after completing graduation.

Methods: A questionnaire-based study was conducted among 100 students pursuing post-graduation in pedodontics and preventive dentistry. The questionnaire consisted of eight close ended and one open ended items which included career choice-related questions and demographic (age and gender) data. Finally, data was collected and presented as frequency distribution.

Results: Overall majority of students choose pedodontics as choice about 65% (65/100) and 35% (35/100) were those who got in pedodontics field by chance. 15% (15/100) students had family role in getting MDS admission in pedodontics.

Conclusions: Post graduate pedodontics students mostly have chosen pedodontics as a professional career due to their personal interest and influence of family and those who by chance opted pedodontics developed interest in the subject with time.

References

Gowhar O. Prospective of oral pathology as profession- a cross sectional study. International Journal of Contemporary Med Res. 2017;4(7):1490-3.

Singh G. Community dentistry as a career perspective among the students pursuing Masters course. Arch Oral Sci Res. 2011:1(3):146-51.

American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation. Accreditation standards for advanced specialty education programs in pediatric dentistry. Chicago, Ill; 2013.

Reid AE. Recruitment into dentistry: the results of a recent national study of dental education in Canada. J Dent Educ.1976;40:158-65.

Eli I, Shuval JT. Professional socialization in dentistry. A longitudinal analysis of attitude changes among dental students towards the dental profession. Soc Sci Med. 1982;16:951-5.

Awad Y. Reasons for career change among attendees of retraining courses. Int J Hum Soc Sci. 2014;4(5):74-84

Naidu GM. Choosing public health dentistry as a career: a cross sectional study. J Cli Diag Res. 2014;8(2):199-202.

Vigild M, Schwarz E. Characteristics and study motivation of Danish dental students in a longitudinal perspective. Eur J Dent Educ. 2001;5:127-33.

Bedi R, Gilthorpe MS. Ethnic and gender variations in university applicants to United Kingdom medical and dental schools. Br Dent J. 2000;189(4):212-5.

Orenuga OO, Costa OO. Characteristics and Study Motivation of Clinical Dental Students in Nigerian Universities J Dental Education. 2006;70(9):996-1003.

Downloads

Published

2018-01-24

How to Cite

S., S. (2018). Pedodontics and preventive dentistry as career option: post graduate student’s perspective. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 6(2), 677–681. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20180319

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles