# Career Motivations, Postgraduate Specialties Interest, and Preferred Careers Upon Graduation Among Dental Students in the Northern Region of Saudi Arabia—A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

## TL;DR

This study explores why dental students in Saudi Arabia chose their profession, their specialty interests, and career plans after graduation.

## Contribution

The study provides insights into gender-based differences in dental career motivations and preferences in Saudi Arabia.

## Key findings

- Personal and vocational factors were the main reasons for choosing dentistry.
- Female students preferred restorative and esthetic dentistry, while males preferred oral and maxillofacial surgery.
- Most students wanted to work as civilian dentists in the public sector after graduation.

## Abstract

It is essential to identify the factors that influence a student's choice of dental career, interest in postgraduate specialties, and preferred careers upon graduation when planning the dental workforce agenda in the country.

We examined the factors that influenced undergraduate (UG) students of Jouf University, Saudi Arabia, to choose dentistry as a profession. We also assessed students' preferences for dental specialties following graduation and immediate career plans upon graduation and whether they differed by demographics.

This was a cross-sectional survey study that was conducted from November 15, 2021, to January 15, 2022. A twelve-item questionnaire was hand-delivered to the third-, fourth-, and fifth-year UG students and interns of the College of Dentistry, Jouf University. The research questions focused on demographic information, reasons for choosing dentistry as a profession, preferences for postgraduate studies, and preferred career upon graduation. Mann–Whitney U and chi-square tests were performed.

A total of 144 students responded to the survey. The samples consisted of 84 (58.3%) male and 60 (41.7%) female students. The reasons for choosing dentistry as a career were mostly related to personal and vocational factors. Significant differences were noticed between male and female respondents for most of the reasons for choosing dentistry as a career (p ≤ 0.05). The female respondents mostly preferred restorative and esthetic dentistry as a specialty of choice, whereas the male participants preferred oral and maxillofacial surgery. The most preferred career among male and female respondents was “civilian dentist in the public sector.” There was no significant difference among genders with respect to the most preferred specialty and immediate career plans upon graduation (p > 0.05).

Personal and vocational factors influenced the career preferences, with esthetic dentistry as the most preferred specialty for the graduates to choose. These data might aid the policy makers of the university for student career guidance.