Career in dentistry: By choice or chance-reasons for choosing dentistry among the first-year dental students of a college in India

Objective: To determine the factors that lead to the choice of dentistry as an occupation among the first-year dental students in a private dental college in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 100 first year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of total eight close-ended questions, which included demographic (age and gender) and career choice-related items. Data was collected, analyzed, and was represented as numbers and percentage. Results: The response rate was 100%. Majority of the students (80%) chose dentistry as a professional career as compared to the 20% who got in by chance. About 72% of them chose dentistry because of their interest, 13% because they were unable to procure a seat in medicine and 10% due to family influence. Majority of them (85%) had undergone career guidance courses in school and were told about various career options. On completion of their undergraduate course in dentistry, 73% preferred to pursue post-graduation and 23% desired to establish private practice. Conclusions: The first years of A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore have chosen dentistry as a professional career mostly due to their personal interest and influence of family and friends