School of Dental Hygiene, Faculty of Dentistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
Dental Hygiene Program, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Can J Dent Hyg. 2023 Feb 1;57(1):14-24. eCollection 2023 Feb.
As discussions about baccalaureate education for dental hygiene continue at national and international levels, examining outcomes of earning a baccalaureate degree in a Canadian context is essential. This study aimed to explore the motivating reasons for pursuing a dental hygiene baccalaureate degree in Canada and the career outcomes of Canadian dental hygiene baccalaureate degree graduates.
Graduates from all 4 Canadian dental hygiene degree programs (N = 262) participated in a cross-sectional online survey between November and December 2021. Survey questions explored motivating reasons for pursuing dental hygiene degree education, educational experiences, employment outcomes, and career satisfaction. A descriptive analysis was performed to report absolute and relative frequencies of responses to each question. Differences between participant characteristics, motivating reasons for pursing a degree, and practice outcomes were assessed. Where applicable, results were compared to the results of the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association's 2019 Job Market and Employment Survey. A thematic analysis was applied to open-ended descriptive responses.
Primary motivators included personal satisfaction (77%), status of a degree (75%), increase in employment opportunities (71%), and increase in knowledge base (69%). Respondents (87%) reported that they were satisfied with their educational experiences, and the majority (65%) agreed that a degree should be the minimum entry-level credential for dental hygiene practice in Canada. Primary practice settings were reported as clinical dental hygiene care (80%), educational institutions (9%), community and public health (4%), and other practice settings (7%). A larger proportion reported working in non-clinical settings than those in the national survey (20% and 8%, respectively; < 0.001).
These findings underscore the impact of baccalaureate education on dental hygiene practice in Canada.
随着国内外对牙科卫生学士学位教育的讨论不断进行，在加拿大背景下考察获得学士学位的结果至关重要。本研究旨在探讨在加拿大攻读牙科卫生学士学位的动机原因以及加拿大牙科卫生学士学位毕业生的职业成果。
2021 年 11 月至 12 月期间，来自加拿大所有 4 个牙科卫生学位课程的毕业生（N=262）参与了一项横断面在线调查。调查问题探讨了攻读牙科卫生学位教育的动机原因、教育经历、就业成果和职业满意度。采用描述性分析报告每个问题的绝对和相对频率的回答。评估了参与者特征、攻读学位的动机原因和实践成果之间的差异。在适用的情况下，将结果与加拿大牙科保健员协会 2019 年就业市场和就业调查的结果进行比较。对开放式描述性回复应用主题分析。
主要动机包括个人满意度（77%）、学位的地位（75%）、增加就业机会（71%）和增加知识基础（69%）。受访者（87%）对他们的教育经历表示满意，大多数（65%）人认为学位应该是加拿大牙科保健实践的最低入门级凭证。主要的实践场所报告为临床牙科保健护理（80%）、教育机构（9%）、社区和公共卫生（4%）和其他实践场所（7%）。与全国调查相比，报告在非临床环境中工作的比例更大（分别为 20%和 8%；<0.001）。
这些发现强调了学士学位教育对加拿大牙科保健实践的影响。
