|
Perception of dental students regarding possible career challenges and associated factors towards working in rural areas: A questionnaire based survey
Saurabh Satyarth1, Savadamoorthi Kamatchi Subramani2, Hina Ahmed3, Gautam Singh3, Rajkumar Selvakumar4, Srikala Bhandary5, J Suresh Babu6, C Swarnalatha6, Abhishek S Nayyar7
1 Department of Dentistry, Government Medical College, Bettiah, Bihar, India
2 Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3 Department of Conservative Dental Sciences, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
4 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Rajah Muthiah Dental College and Hospital, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India
5 Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
6 Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, Division of Periodontology, College of Dentistry, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
7 Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saraswati Dhanwantari Dental College and Hospital and Post-Graduate Research Institute, Parbhani, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
Srikala Bhandary
Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, A B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jos.jos_46_22
|
|
OBJECTIVE: The shortage of health care professionals in rural areas contributes toward discriminatory health care delivery. The present study was planned with a similar intent and aimed to evaluate the perception of dental students regarding their future in rural areas.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was designed as a cross-sectional study comprising of a 30-item questionnaire survey instrument distributed among a total of 550 dental students while the results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 12.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Independent student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for comparison among the variables while the Chi-square test was used to determine the association between the variables. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the attitude based on gender (P = 0.43), although, a statistically significant difference was observed in the attitude of students based on the year of their education with a positive attitude toward rural dental practice generally noted in the first year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students which significantly declined with the increasing level of education (P = 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: Dental students were more influenced by the negative aspects of rural dental practice though they had, in their mind, a positive approach for the same at the beginning of their education, but this significantly declined with the increasing level of their education.
|
