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Providing care to service members and veterans as an active duty United States Air Force (USAF) dentist is a unique and rewarding experience that can be quite different from the private sector. As a USAF officer, I balance military and dental responsibilities, which has taught me to be flexible and adaptive. Virtually every dentist in the dental corps (DC), unless they are a resident, holds some form of a leadership position, whether that be overseeing clinic operations, the laboratory, an infection control program, or so on. The USAF doesn't just build clinicians, it builds leaders.

Objective: Postgraduate dental (PGD) primary care training has grown significantly. This study examines the individual, educational, community, and policy factors that predict practice patterns of PGD-trained dentists., Study Design: Individual dentist records from the 2017 American Dental Association Masterfile, with indicators of Medicaid participation and practice in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), were linked to postdoctoral training, community/practice location, and state policy factors. Generalized logistic models, adjusted for these factors, were used to predict PGD-trained dentists: (1a) serving Medicaid children, (1b) accepting new Medicaid patients, and (2) working in an FQHC., Results: Individual attributes that predicted serving Medicaid children included all race/gender combinations (vs. White females), and foreign-trained dentists and contractors/employees/associates (vs. practice owners). Black women are most likely to work in an FQHC. Residency attributes that predicted serving Medicaid children and working in an FQHC were Health Resources and Services Administration postdoctoral funding and being community based. Dentists practicing in rural or high-poverty communities were more likely to serve Medicaid children and work at FQHCs. States with higher levels of graduate medical education investment, higher Medicaid rates, and more generous adult dental Medicaid benefits increased the likelihood of serving Medicaid children, while states with more expansive adult dental Medicaid benefits increased the likelihood of working in an FQHC., Conclusion: Federal training investment in PGD education combined with Medicaid payment and coverage policies can strongly impact access to dental care for vulnerable populations. Yet, oral health equity cannot be achieved without increasing dentist workforce diversity., (© 2022 American Dental Education Association.)

Introduction: For over the last 20 years, approximately 70% of working dentists in Finland have been women. However, there is internal division of the profession along gender lines. Female dentists work more often in the public sector and male dentists in the private sector. The aim of this study was to investigate the gender differences in young dentists' early career choices, specialization plans, values and perceptions of professional identity., Materials and Methods: The data were taken from a national e-mail questionnaire study called "Young Dentist," which was sent to 458 dentists who had received their licence to practise dentistry in 2014-2016 from all four universities with dental curricula in Finland. A total of 52% young dentists (n = 238) answered the questionnaire., Results and Discussion: The results indicated that whereas female dentists were more likely to perceive themselves as comforters, social workers and health promoters, male dentists tended to perceive themselves as technicians. These professional identities were interrelated with early-stage career choices in which female dentists worked more often in the public than in the private sector when compared to male dentists. There were also clear gender differences in the importance of values and the specialization plans of the young dentists., Conclusion: Young dentists in Finland make career choices and develop professional identity in accordance with the attributes traditionally associated with cultural ideals related to femininity and masculinity., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: Due to forecasted faculty shortages and increasing student enrollments in dental education, there is a need to attract talented clinicians into academia. To address this growing concern, we need to explore dental practitioners' perspectives on the academic career pathway, including enablers and barriers to entering the academic workforce., Methods: A mixed-methods electronic survey was disseminated through professional associations and dental groups on social media in 2018. Qualitative responses were examined using an inductive thematic analysis., Results: Participants (n = 85) considered an academic career highly regarded (80%) but indicated there was not a clear pathway (79%) and could not recall it being discussed during their dental studies (85%). It was perceived that experience, further study, and networks all played a significant role in forging an academic career. Perceived benefits to an academic career included professional development opportunities, good employment conditions, and making a meaningful contribution. Barriers included the geographical location of universities, losing clinical skills and the lack of a clear career pathway., Conclusion: Despite being a highly regarded career, clinicians admit the career pathway to academia is not clear. Improving awareness of academic career paths might be achieved by educating dental students and providing accessible resources to the wider profession., (© 2020 American Dental Education Association.)

The future of evidence-based dentistry in developing Africa heavily depends on a sustainable establishment of a vibrant dentist-scientist workforce. A dentist scientist is saddled with the responsibility of carrying out robust cutting edge research projects that are inspired by clinical experience. Currently, there are no pipelines in place to systematically train such dentists, neither are there programs in place to allow trained African dentists choose such a career pathway. A dentist-scientist is a person who studied oral, dental, maxillofacial (or craniofacial) diseases, prevention, and population sciences (obtaining a medical degrees such as bachelor of dental surgery [BDS] or BChD) alone; or in combination with other advanced degrees such as doctor of dental surgery (DDS)/doctor of philosophy (PhD) or BDS/PhD. This situation has resulted in overdependence of African clinical practice on research findings from technologically advanced Western countries and a decline in clinical research capacity building. The career path of a dentist-scientist should involve research along the spectrum of basic biomedical sciences, translational, clinical and public health sciences. There are several factors responsible for the ultra-low count of dentist-scientist in the heterogeneous African communities such as: poor biomedical research infrastructure; lack of funding; absence of structured dentist scientist career pathways; lack of personnel, inter alia. Hence, this review hopes to discuss the opportunities of setting up a dentist-scientist training pathway in Africa (as obtains in most developed world settings), identify opportunities and prospects of developing an African dentist-scientist workforce, and finally discuss the challenges involved.

The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of Saudi female dentists and dental students on their motivation for and expectations of a career in dentistry. Twenty-one semistructured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of Saudi female dentists (postgraduate students, generalists, specialists, academics, and unemployed), along with final-year female dental students from public and private dental schools. A topic guide, informed by the literature and piloted on a representative group of Saudi dentists, was used to guide the discourse. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then analyzed using framework analysis. We found that highly academic achieving females are interested in a prestigious, financially rewarding career in health care that fulfills their family and community expectations of balancing family life with work. Features of the job that facilitate this balance such as regular hours and no on-call were commonly important. A range of professional interests, most importantly specialization and holding academic positions, often involving studying abroad, emerged. Females' movement between sectors, location of work, and practice patterns in this study were shaped by their domestic circumstances. The findings suggest that Saudi females in dentistry aspire to fulfill their interest in a successful, professional, highly prestigious, progressive career while recognizing cultural expectations and maintaining a family-work balance and perceive this is possible through a career in dentistry. Knowledge Transfer Statement: This study makes an important contribution to the knowledge on this topic. The findings can inform decisions made by policy makers on dental education and workforce planning, as well as future dentists who plan to join the dental workforce. It gives insight into the motivation and career expectations of Saudi females in dentistry in light of the current economic and cultural changes, as well as their implication for the dental workforce.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the reasons governing selection of geographical location of workplace by postgraduate dental trainees. We believe that such data would aid in the development of measures aimed at reducing regional disparities in the number of dentists. A total of 10 dental colleges and faculties in Japan were invited to participate in the study. Anonymous, self-completed questionnaire surveys were given to 739 dentists at 13 clinical training facilities following training in 2012 and 2013; 713 responses were analyzed. The items surveyed included the local population in the area in which they wished to work and whether they wanted to work in rural areas or remote islands. The most common response to the question regarding population was "medium-size cities" with a population of 100,000 to 300,000 people (67.3%). The largest number of respondents stated that they hoped to work in their hometown or a neighboring area (49.9%). A large percentage wished to work in medium-size cities, which may reflect the population of their hometowns. The current system allows dentists a free choice in becoming practitioners or hospital dentists on completion of training. This may explain why so many expressed a preference to work in their hometown or a neighboring area here. These results suggest that policies relying on increasing the supply of dentists as the sole solution to rural shortages are flawed.

Background Nominative determinism describes the theory that people are more likely to pursue careers that are connected to their names. Compelling research has been carried out across the medical professions that provides strong evidence for this phenomenon, but as yet its applicability to the UK dental workforce remains unknown.Aim The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of dentally-related surnames in the UK dental workforce (dentists and dental care professionals) and compare this to the UK population.Results Dentistry may provide a surprising counter-example to prevailing theories of nominative determinism, as UK dentists are significantly less likely than the UK general population to have dentally-related surnames. This new phenomenon of 'nominative antideterminism' was not observed in the dental care professional (DCP) cohort, for whom the prevalence of dentally-related surnames was similar to that in the wider UK population.

With the U.S. population growing ever more diverse and the need for dentists in many areas of the United States, there is increasing opportunity for foreign-trained dentists to pursue dental careers in this country. This article provides a broad overview of dental education and career pathways available for foreign-trained dentists in the United States. Educational opportunities include pursuing advanced standing dental degree programs and advanced graduate education (residency programs). Career pathways include working in academic and private practice settings. This article also describes the licensure and visa requirements foreign-trained dentists must satisfy to work legally in the United States.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether changes in student selection criteria at The University of Adelaide effected a change in motivation and influencing factors to study dentistry by comparing cohorts., Methods: Online questionnaire completed by first-year dentistry students at The University of Adelaide between 1993-1996 and 1997-2005., Results: All 666 students completed the questionnaire with 647 suitable for analysis. The likelihood of students being motivated for a career in dentistry because it 'fits with family' was greater for the 1997-2005 cohort (OR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.14-2.49, p < 0.01) than it was for 1993-1996 enrollees, whereas 'status' became less important (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.30-0.73, p < 0.01). Being influenced by a dentist (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.63-3.55, p < 0.001) or a dental employee (OR = 3.19, 95% CI = 0.90-4.85, p < 0.001) was much greater for the 1997-2005 group than it was for the 1993-1996 cohort. Where students came from, parents' level of education and gender were not significant in the multivariate analysis of factors associated with motivation and influences of students' career choice., Conclusions: Changes to the selection procedure were associated with increased emphasis on lifestyle factors and the dental profession, but not with the desire to help people or the importance of the work itself in students' decision to study dentistry., (© 2014 Australian Dental Association.)

There has been a marked increase of women in dentistry in Brazil and in many countries around the world. The behavioral mechanisms behind the choice of career differ between men and women, and the inclination to care for others is thought by some to be more present in women than it is in men. This article discusses the reasons that lead women to choose dentistry as a profession in Brazil and the impact of feminization on the current and future profile of the profession, based on the ethics of care. The authors' review of the relevant literature published between 2000 and 2011, primarily in Brazil, suggests that whereas men have tended to choose dentistry as a good business opportunity, women have tended to base their decision on relations with other people and the flexibility of practicing the profession. Many women dentists have been found to decide to work fewer hours, report more interruptions in their activities, and have less preference to work in private practice than men dentists. In the view of service users and dental auxiliaries in Brazil, women dentists invest more time in their patients and communicate in a more pleasant, sensitive, and friendly manner. The conclusion suggests that characteristics often associated with women can affect the dental profession in Brazil by introducing greater concern with the promotion of health and other people's well-being in contrast to traditional dentistry based on curative procedures.

Increasing numbers of medics are applying to dental school to pursue a career in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS), particularly in the aftermath of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC), but their perspectives, experience, and training up to this point differ widely. We aimed to characterise these differences in the light of MMC and beyond by doing a survey of 20 dentists and 24 medics who were applying for their second degree. They were questioned about factors that influenced their choice of career and university, the motivation to pursue specialty training, and were asked for their opinions on suggested measures for workforce planning. The medics were subdivided into those who had trained before MMC (n=18), and those who had not (n=6). Dentists had considerably more OMFS experience than medics (mean 22 months compared with 4.2 months), and 46% (11/24) of medics had no substantive OMFS experience. Of those who had trained before MMC 3/18 considered OMFS as their first choice of career, compared with 4/6 who have trained since, and 15/20 of dentists. Eighty-three percent (20/24) of medics admitted that MMC had influenced their choice of career, and 54% (13/24) had applied for training in a specialty other than OMFS, notably otolaryngology. The most favoured method of workforce planning among all respondents (25/44) was "roughly matching" places on a second degree to projected OMFS training posts., (Copyright © 2010 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The authors, with more than forty years of combined private practice experience, discuss professional satisfaction in the private practice setting. A change to an academic career may provide job satisfaction and revitalize a dental career, while simultaneously satisfying the need for faculty in our dental schools.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the representations odontology students had of their career path. Second-year odontology students were questioned about their own motivations and the motivations they attributed to dentists in choosing this profession., Methods: The students were asked to complete a questionnaire during the first course and again after 5 months. It was thus possible to study the evolution of their motivations after 5 months of interactions with their fellow students and professors., Results: Whether or not students were able to choose their career path following the selection examination at the end of the first year of the medical programme was an important variable in determining individual motivations and the motivations they attributed to dentists in choosing the dental profession. For example, students who were unable to choose their career path reported that they would like to work in the public health system, while those who were able to choose said they chose odontology as a vocation. The closing of the gap between the two groups during the period between the two questionnaires highlighted the increasing cohesion of the group., Conclusion: Beyond the differences between the motivations provided, this study showed that students who had not planned to become dentists before the selection examination needed some time to familiarise themselves with the situation and accept the change in their career path.

If someone had told us, when we were undergraduates, that there was a career which allowed you the time, and gave you the support, to pursue and research the things about your profession which most interested you, we would have been intrigued. If we had then been informed that there was paid employment which encouraged you to travel extensively abroad, talking about your work, and also gave you the brightest young minds in the country to engage with, teach and learn from, we would have thought this job sounded very tempting. If we had then been told that it also provided secretaries and administrators to help you do your job, and was carried out in a non-hierarchical, collegiate environment where equality and diversity are valued--we would have jumped at the chance! And did! Because what is described above is the life of a clinical academic. Although all the above are part of the role of the academic, there is also immense value and joy to be obtained through scholarship, education and teaching, which are sometimes forgotten because so much of our time and energy is directed to dealing with our patients' problems, while wrestling with the intricacies of new contracts, clinical governance, evidence based practice, and so forth.

Aim: This was to ascertain reasons for pupils' interest in dentistry, and what appealed to them from their current knowledge of the profession. The findings were compared with those of undergraduates and practising dentists., Materials and Method: Three different groups of subjects (school pupils, fourth-year dental undergraduates and general dental practitioners) in West Yorkshire were asked to complete a single-sided A4 questionnaire., Results: All respondents completed the questionnaire fully., Conclusion: Promotion of dentistry as a career should be targeted at the 14-15-year-old age group and above. Advice on a career in dentistry may be sought from general dental practitioners (who should keep up to date with dental degree/career information), careers fairs, and written information (which should be well-presented and informative). Dental schools might provide information via 'predental advisers' and recruiting courses, with help for applicants from professionals with relevant experience.

Objective: This study examined factors associated with dentists continuing to provide care to the underserved populations beyond their National Health Service Corps (NHSC) obligation period., Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were mailed in 1998 to 404 dentists who had completed their service obligation between 1980 and 1997. The outcome variable was dentist self-report of continuing to work with the underserved population past NHSC obligation., Results: Among 249 respondents (62% response rate), 46 percent of alumni dentists continued to work with an underserved population. Multivariate analyses found that being an African American (odds ratio [OR] = 3.2), higher final salary during the NHSC assignment (OR = 1.2), and higher altruistic motivation to work with the underserved populations prior to entering NHSC (OR = 1.1) were significantly associated with continued service to the underserved populations., Conclusions: A small number of factors were associated with alumni NHSC dentists' decisions to continue to provide care for the underserved populations. Targeting African-American students and students interested in caring for the underserved may improve the long-term commitment of dentists to provide care for the underserved populations. Attention will also need to be given to increased salary as a potential intervention to increase the numbers of dentists who continue to serve the underserved populations.

Objective: To describe current patterns of employment, career intentions and factors that influence career choice in young graduates., Design: A cross-sectional postal survey., Subjects: Graduates from the years 1991 and 1994 were selected to provide cohorts before and after the introduction of mandatory vocational training. A total of 232 graduates were sent questionnaires and 183 replied (77%): 90 men (49%) and 93 women (51%)., Setting: The cohorts all came from Scottish dental schools. When surveyed in 1996/1997, 66% were working in Scotland and 28% were in England. The rest were elsewhere in the UK or abroad., Measures: A questionnaire which had been piloted, applied to medical graduates and then adapted for dentists, was used., Results: The most common post held was that of Associate in General Dental Practice (61% of the sample) and the majority (85%) were working full-time. Only small numbers indicated that they wished to undertake a career in academia (6) or the hospital dental service (17). In choosing a career, males were more influenced by financial factors (P = 0.009) and women by the availability of part-time employment (P = 0.000)., Conclusion: Despite the recent adverse publicity about general dental practice, most young dentists see their future in this sector of the profession. More worrying is the comparatively small number who wish to work within the hospital service or in academia. Results also indicate the need to develop schemes to retain women in the workforce.

The title, of course, came from a patient. The precise and original answer to the question has been largely overwhelmed by the vast changes in the profession over 30-odd years. The author discusses why he is glad he chose general dental practice; why it remains a career of interest, stimulus, challenge and satisfaction; and why he would commend it enthusiastically to today's school leavers.