Dental students' motivations for their career choice: an international investigative report

This study's aim was to investigate on an international scale the reasons why individuals are currently choosing dentistry as a career. An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on a cohort of first-year dental students from thirteen countries on six continents in 2011-12 (n=711). Participants completed the Du Toit Questionnaire for Health Workers and Students, designed for this study, to disclose the reason(s) why they chose a career in dentistry. Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed in EpiInfo version 7.1.1.14. The response rate was 89.1 percent; the respondents' average age was nineteen years; and their gender was 54 percent female and 46 percent male. The motive selected by the highest percentage (37.4 percent) was "Dentists have enough time off for family life." The second most popular motive at 36.3 percent was "I want to be a dentist who helps poor and underprivileged people." A strong relationship was found between this altruistic motive and students' having been accepted into their program by means of a personal interview or motivational essay as one of the admissions criteria (p<0.05, r(2)=0.89). This study found that the two strongest motivations for these students from around the world to seek a dental career were the flexible work schedule, leaving time for family life, and the opportunity to help those less fortunate. Dental school admissions policies that provide for review of applicants' motivations may produce dentists with stronger altruistic interest in the profession.