Factors Influencing Dental Students’ Choice of Discipline

Introduction: Students’ choice of dentistry as the discipline of study is influenced by several factors. These factors influence the interest and attitude of these students towards their future career and are the important aspects in the quality of services provided by them. Given the importance of this issue, this study aims to investigate the views of dental students about important factors influencing their choice of dentistry as discipline, and possible differences among the two genders. Methods: This descriptive study was performed nationwide on dental students who had participated in Student Congress using random sampling. Data was collected using a questionnaire which its validity was approved by qualified professors and its reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha test. The questionnaire had 22 questions and was distributed among a random sample of 325 students. Their agreement with each question was measured on a 7-point Likert scale. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tests such as independent t -test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: A total of 283 students (112 males, 171 females) with a mean age of 22.3±2.04 completed the questionnaire. Based on the mean scores, factors such as a socially decent career(4.92), job security (4.84) and a high-paying job(4.84) were the main reasons for choosing dentistry. This is while considering dentistry as an opportunity for research(2.61) and having information or background about dentistry(2.65) were the least important factors. Investigating aspects affecting dentistry choice between the two genders, only being keen on the scientific aspect of dentistry was significantly higher in female students than that of males (P=0.039). Other factors were not significantly different between the sexes. Conclusion: In students’ opinion, acceptable social position, ensured future of the work and proper income were the most important factors in choosing dentistry. Also regarding the most important factors in choosing dentistry, there was not any significant difference between two sexes. Due to the high cost of education and the requirements for providing a high quality of health care, it seems that more attention is required toward the cultural superiorities and cognitive abilities necessary for the students to choose their study courses.