Boston University Henry Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
University of New England College of Dental Medicine, Portland, Maine, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2020 Dec;84(12):1388-1398. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12343. Epub 2020 Aug 10.
Understanding the motivators and obstacles behind pursuing advanced dental education is essential in planning pedagogy, mentorship programs, and curricula that support dental students to achieve their future career goals.
The objective of this study was to investigate factors influencing dental student's choice to pursue a postgraduate specialization at University of New England College of Dental Medicine with a focus on student personality. Factors examined include demographics, religious affiliations, prior education, dental experiences, expected debt, past career choices, beliefs about the process of specialization, and personality types.
A total of 232 dental students (91.6% response rate) completed a self-administered questionnaire. About 21.6% of dental students intended to pursue a dental specialty while 38.8% wanted to pursue a nondental Masters' program. Approximately one-third of dental students were interested in practicing as general dentists or pursuing additional training in general dentistry. Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry were the top choices for dental specialization.
Being younger, having a dentist family member, nonwhite ethnicity, and having Extraverted and Sensing personality were found to be significant predictors of dental students' intention to pursue advanced dental education. Having a unique talent or skills, past exposure to dental treatments, family/peer expectations, geographic location of the residency program and its proximity to the family were the most identified factors while considering residency program.
Results in this study are consistent with previous literature and bring attention to the importance of understanding students' personality in teaching methodologies, mentorship and determining their future goals. The findings allow dental institutions to better prepare their predoctoral candidate for residency.
了解追求高等牙科教育的动机和障碍对于规划教育学、指导计划和课程至关重要，这些都可以支持牙科学生实现未来的职业目标。
本研究的目的是调查影响牙科学生选择在新英格兰大学牙科学院攻读研究生专业的因素，重点是学生的个性。检查的因素包括人口统计学、宗教信仰、以前的教育、牙科经验、预期债务、过去的职业选择、对专业化过程的信念以及性格类型。
共有 232 名牙科学生（91.6%的回复率）完成了一份自我管理的问卷。大约 21.6%的牙科学生打算攻读牙科专业，而 38.8%的学生希望攻读非牙科硕士课程。大约三分之一的牙科学生对从事普通牙医工作或接受普通牙科额外培训感兴趣。正畸和儿科牙科是牙科专业的首选。
研究发现，年龄较小、有牙医家庭成员、非白种人种族、外向和感觉型人格是牙科学生打算接受高等牙科教育的重要预测因素。拥有独特的才能或技能、过去接触过牙科治疗、家庭/同伴的期望、居住计划的地理位置及其与家庭的接近程度是在考虑居住计划时最被认可的因素。
本研究的结果与先前的文献一致，并强调了了解学生个性在教学方法、指导和确定他们未来目标中的重要性。研究结果使牙科机构能够更好地为他们的预备医生候选人做好准备。
