New Zealand's oral health students--education and workforce implications

To obtain background information on the Oral Health (OH) students at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the University of Otago in order to aid in the recruitment of students; to determine the extent of the students' professional knowledge; and to determine their future employment preferences.

Cross-sectional survey of all OH students at AUT and the University of Otago in 2008. A questionnaire was given to all 165 OH students at both Universities, and the response rate was 100%.

Most students came from Cities. Prior to commencing their OH course, they had been engaged in full-time work, in tertiary education or at school. Their main sources of information about the courses were websites, the Universities, friends and dental practitioners. The students' professional knowledge improved significantly as they progressed through the OH courses. Students were likely to want to return to work in the type of community that they had come from. Most (90.3%) would consider working in private practice, while 56.4% would consider working for the School Dental Service (SDS). Overall, 49.7% of students would consider working in both environments.

This study provides information on recruitment of students into OH courses, and the OH students' preferences for employment after graduation. The findings have implications for OH education and workforce planning in New Zealand.