Dental students' motivations and perceptions of dental professional career in India

Students' motivations in choosing a career in the health professions are of great interest for educators and admission committees, particularly in the field of dentistry. This study conducted in four private dental institutions in India was designed to investigate dental students' motivations in their choice of dentistry as a career and their perceptions regarding dentistry in India. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed, and 369 students responded in a combination of selected responses to the questions, for a response rate of 92.3 percent. In the results, 53.7 percent of the students reported pursuing dentistry because it offers stable work (p<0.002); 38.7 percent because the profession is highly paid; and 7.6 percent due to the ease in finding a regular job in dental schools or hospitals. The survey also found that 44.4 percent of the students pursued dentistry because they can determine their own hours of work and 36.6 percent said they liked to be their own boss. Among these students, 64.5 percent said they were content to be joining dentistry as a professional course, but 35.5 percent were discontented (p<0.001). Regarding the specialties, 79.1 percent said they want to become specialists in the field of dentistry (p<0.001); oral surgery was the leading choice followed by orthodontics. Only 11.7 percent reported wanting to pursue dentistry for research purposes. Overall, this study found that financial and professional factors were the chief criteria for students' pursuing dentistry in India; however, the strongest influence in the choice of dentistry was the students' parents or family.