Where Would Final Year Dental Students Like to Work as Opposed to Where They Will Work?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Australia has a disproportionate number of dentists working in its capital city locations relative to its rural locations. Australian Government agencies have initiated two different approaches to partially equalize this workforce imbalance. One approach has been to allow for the placement of dental students from capital city-based universities into a rural work student location. The second, more recent, approach has been to establish dental schools in regional areas. The study has the objective to assess the perceptions and views of both urban and rural-based dental school students on rural placement experience and future rural work.METHODS: Two rural dental schools and one capital city-based dental school were approached, and all consented to their students participating in this survey. The data from the two rural universities were then coalesced and compared to the data from the capital city-based university to quantify the usefulness of the two different approaches in enhancing a dental workforce within rural locations.RESULTS: Many urban-based dental students in this study indicated that they might return to a rural location for employment, and that their rural placement helps them to make this decision.Furthermore, having a rural clinical placement is perceived as beneficial by dental students, and might assist them with their decision about where to practice post-graduation.CONCLUSION: A rural clinical placement experience is perceived as beneficial by dental students, and might assist in decisions on post-graduation practice locations. At this stage, based on student perceptions, the rural-based schools are not more likely than the city-based schools to provide a dental workforce for rural locations.