Gajendra Birajee¹*, Bandana Koirala², Mamta Dali³, Sneha Shrestha¹ and Royasa Shakya⁴

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, College of Dental Surgery, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal
²Professor and HOD, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, College of Dental Surgery, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal
³Associate Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, College of Dental Surgery, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal
⁴Senior Resident, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, College of Dental Surgery, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal

*Corresponding Author: Gajendra Birajee, Assistant Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, College of Dental Surgery, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.

Received: February 15, 2023; Published: March 03, 2023

Abstract

Introduction: Choosing a career is an important decisions one can make for a bright future. Preference for a speciality after graduating from dental school is a difficult decision. Dental graduates reach a concrete decision only after a better understanding of dentistry during their undergraduate study period. The aim of this study is to identify the career choices and speciality preferences of undergraduate dental students studying at the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.

Methodology: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional survey conducted among 209 undergraduate dental students. A standardized, custom-made questionnaire consisting of nine multiple-choice questions were distributed among the participant. Participants are advised to choose the single best suitable answer. Frequency, percentage, and mean were used to express descriptive statistics.

Results: Among the 209 participants, 89 were boys (42.6%) and 120 were girls (57.4%). The mean age was 22.18 years ranging from 18 to 27 years. Almost all participants 204 (97.6%) wanted to continue their dental carrier and only 5 (2.4%) wanted to change their dental career. Also, 186 (89%) wished to pursue a Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) of which 92 (49.5%) have a preference for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery OMFS). Many participants 75 (40.3%) wished to go abroad for further study.

Conclusion: Almost all participants wanted to continue their future career in dentistry with the most preferring dental career was practicing in a government hospital. Also, most of the undergraduate students wanted to study MDS with OSMF being the most preferred speciality. A large number of participants wished to go abroad for further study in search of better learning opportunities and few wished to settle overseas.

Keywords: Career Preference; Dentistry; Dental Graduates; Dental Speciality

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Citation

Citation: Gajendra Birajee., et al. “Career Preferences after Graduation Among Dental Students in a Teaching Hospital in Nepal".Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 7.4 (2023): 08-13.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Gajendra Birajee., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.