Educational debt and the gender gap: Understanding factors influencing orthodontists' career decisions

Orthodontic residents face challenges unparalleled to their predecessors, including competitive marketplaces, rising debt burdens, and changing demographics that have contributed to the shift in initial career choice from owner to employee. We aim to understand factors important to orthodontists at different career stages and the impact on job satisfaction through a sequential mixed methodology study.

Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 orthodontic residents and practitioners. A survey was developed from qualitative findings that explored career decision-making of orthodontic residents and practicing orthodontists, with descriptive and bivariate statistical analyses (n = 343 orthodontists and 185 residents).

Graduating orthodontic residents are choosing employment over ownership as their initial job, prioritizing high income to offset the educational debt. The majority of residents report thinking about their debt very often to all of the time and find it very to extremely stressful. Current residents have long-term goals of ownership, whereas practicing doctors of both genders became owners at equal frequencies. However, on average, women earn $119,000 less per year and report being the primary family caretaker more often than men.

Excellent patient care, work-life balance, and sufficient income are the most important drivers for career choices and job satisfaction for orthodontists of all ages. Despite debt, most residents and working orthodontists report a high level of job satisfaction and would recommend the field of orthodontics to others.