Objective: To investigate the perception of dental students pursuing internship on dental education and future professional career. Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study was carried among 408 interns pursuing compulsory rotatory internship in four different private dental colleges in Punjab, India. A self structured close-ended questionnaire was used to record the data which was categorized into personal, social, economical, professional and future plans. Appropriate statistical tests were used to interpret the data. Results: Majority of the respondents were females 94.4% than males accounting only 5.6%. 74.1% of the respondents wanted to pursue dentistry as their career, out of which, 67.5% want to settle abroad. 50.9% found dentistry to be interesting. The main factors responsible for a career in dentistry was mainly found to be economical and social based. Conclusion: The main reason of dissatisfaction in the field of dentistry is job security, awareness and stability, making a mindset to settle abroad among aspiring dentists. Hence, the policy makers should take necessary steps in this direction so that such obstacles are removed and this cluster of capable and contributing dentists can serve the society, thus improving sectors of health and economy in India.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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