Employment Type and Career Satisfaction Among Oral Medicine Specialists

With fewer oral medicine (OM) specialists than members of other dental specialties, growing the profession to meet patient needs depends on demonstrating to dental educators, students, and practitioners the value and variety of career opportunities in this specialty. The aim of this study was to investigate the type of employment and career satisfaction of current OM specialists. An electronic survey was distributed to all 393 active members of the American Academy of Oral Medicine in May 2016. The questionnaire assessed respondents' sociodemographic characteristics, type of OM training received, workplace setting, type of OM practice, and career satisfaction. Career satisfaction rates were stratified by age and gender. A total of 124 respondents completed the entire survey, for a response rate of 31.6%. Among the respondents, 62.1% were males, the median age was 52 years, and 85.7% had completed an OM postdoctoral training program in North America. The median length of respondents' program was two years (range 1-6), and program types were one or a combination of certificate (44.1%), master's degree (21.2%), and postdoctoral fellowship (9.3%). A third (31.4%) of the respondents were employed at a university. The median score for respondents' satisfaction with their current job was eight on a scale from 0 to 10, though younger respondents (<39 years of age) were less satisfied with their positions than were older respondents (p<0.001). Management of oral mucosal diseases represented 23.7% of the respondents' patient care time. These OM specialists reported a high degree of satisfaction with their careers. These findings may help increase recognition of OM as a desirable career path and of the varied career opportunities available in academia, hospitals, and private practices.