The career intentions, work-life balance and retirement plans of dental undergraduates at the University of Bristol

Abstract

Aim To investigate the career intentions, work-life balance and retirement plans of dental undergraduates at the University of Bristol in 2015.Method Cross-sectional survey of 210 clinical undergraduates using an anonymous self-report questionnaire.Results The response rate was 79%. The majority (81.7%) were 'satisfied' or 'extremely satisfied' with their choice of career. The majority (78.7%) felt men and women are equally likely to succeed in dentistry, although 42.9% felt men had an advantage over women with regards to career success. The majority (81.6%) intend on working within general practice, 11.3% within hospital dental services and 2.1% within community dental services. The majority (70.5%) intend to specialise within dentistry. Only 1.8% of participants intend on providing only National Health Service (NHS) dental treatment whereas the 86.5% would provide both NHS and private dental treatment. Fifteen years after qualifying, 52.2% plan to work part-time, and 37.8% intend on retiring at the age of 60 or below. The majority (86.6%) felt that childcare should be shared equally between both parents. Female students intend to take more time out of their career to concentrate on childcare and felt that having a child would affect their career more than males.Conclusion The anticipated career plans, work-life balance and retirement plans of undergraduates change over time, and further research should be carried out to monitor future career intentions of dental students in order to help with dental workforce planning.