Students' motivation to study dentistry in Malaysia: an analysis using confirmatory factor analysis

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Health Professions Education
• Psychology of Motivation

Background:

• Malaysia has seen a significant increase in dental schools.
• Understanding student motivation is crucial for dental workforce planning.
• This study addresses the need to identify factors influencing the choice to study dentistry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the primary motivations of Malaysian dental students.
• To investigate if motivation differs based on student and school characteristics.
• To inform strategies for dental student recruitment and retention.

Main Methods:

• Survey of 356 final-year dental students across Malaysian dental schools.
• Utilized a questionnaire assessing motivation and demographics.
• Employed Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA).

Main Results:

• Academic factors and healthcare/people orientation were the strongest motivators.
• Students in private schools showed higher motivation for healthcare/people compared to public schools.
• Malay students reported lower motivation related to family/friends compared to minority ethnic groups.

Conclusions:

• Academic factors are the leading motivation for studying dentistry among Malaysian students.
• Student ethnicity and school sector significantly influence motivation.
• Motivation is not significantly affected by age, sex, or family income.