Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the factors that motivate students to choose dentistry as a career and to examine their perspectives on future specialty choices, with particular emphasis on orthodontics. Material and Methods: A paper-based non-identifiable questionnaire was administered to the 4 th year undergraduate dental students from one public university and the 5 th year students from one private university. The questionnaire consisted of seven sections; (1) Demographic data, (2) factors influenced the choice of dentistry as a career?, (3) factors influenced the choice of dentistry over medicine?, (4) factors influenced the choice of a future specialty (After graduation from dentistry)?, (5) specialties were most preferred?, (6) factors influenced the choice of orthodontics as a future specialty?, and (7) factors influenced the choice of another specialty than orthodontics. The answers to the questions were designed as a five-point Likert scale. Results: A total of 135 responses showed that students choose dentistry mainly for “passion” ( n = 70 51.9%) and for being “practical study/working with hand” ( n = 63 46.7%). Students choose dentistry over medicine because dentistry offers more “practical training” ( n = 81 60%), “shorter career path” n = 66 (48.9%), “flexible working hours” ( n = 51 37.8%), and “less working hours than medicine” n = 28 (20.7%). Orthodontics came as the fourth choice for specialization. The most common reasons for not preferring orthodontics were as follows: “difficult to have a clinic specialized only in orthodontics” ( n = 32 23.7%) and “difficult to join a postgraduate orthodontic program” ( n = 29 21.5%). Conclusion: Dental students loved to work with their hands. They preferred dentistry over medicine because the study is more practical, offers a shorter career path, and provides more flexible working hours. Orthodontics ranked fourth among the students’ preferences due to the financial constraints associated with establishing specialized orthodontic clinics.
Latief et al. (Fri,) studied this question.