Evaluation of Mashhad Dental School Student's Motives and Viewpoints on Their Career Choices in 2010

The results of studies on the dental students’ perceived motivation toward their career choice have been used in planning social, educational, professional, medical, and economic issues associated with this career. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons and motivations of first and final grade dental students towards their career choices. Seventy five dental students at first (40 students) and sixth grades (35 students) from Mashhad dental school participated in this cross sectional study. A self administered questionnaire consisting of student's personal information and their motivations for choosing dentistry were distributed among the students. Statistical examination was done using SPSS software (Version 11.5). Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were used for performing statistical analysis (α=0.05). The results show that the most frequent reasons for choosing dentistry were economic factors, social status and job security, and proper and flexible working time. Females, attention due to the lower risk for life-threatening complications in dental practice were significantly higher than males (P= 0.001). Shifting perspectives of sixth year dental students toward dentistry compared to first-year students were more frequent (P=0.031). This change in perspective in the sixth-year students had a more negative trend. Economical factors and professional factors had the most influence on selecting dentistry by students. It is definite that these kinds of factors in dentistry could have negative effects on dental graduates, future career.