Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Human Resources for Health
Published in: Human Resources for Health 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research

Students’ motivation to study dentistry in Malaysia: an analysis using confirmatory factor analysis

Authors: Muhd Firdaus Che Musa, Eduardo Bernabé, Jennifer E Gallagher

Published in: Human Resources for Health | Issue 1/2015

Login to get access

Abstract

Introduction

Malaysia has experienced a significant expansion of dental schools over the past decade. Research into students’ motivation may inform recruitment and retention of the future dental workforce. The objectives of this study were to explore students’ motivation to study dentistry and whether that motivation varied by students’ and school characteristics.

Methods

All 530 final-year students in 11 dental schools (6 public and 5 private) in Malaysia were invited to participate at the end of 2013. The self-administered questionnaire, developed at King’s College London, collected information on students’ motivation to study dentistry and demographic background. Responses on students’ motivation were collected using five-point ordinal scales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the underlying structure of students’ motivation to study dentistry. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to compare factor scores for overall motivation and sub-domains by students’ and school characteristics.

Results

Three hundred and fifty-six final-year students in eight schools (all public and two private) participated in the survey, representing an 83% response rate for these schools and 67% of all final-year students nationally. The majority of participants were 24 years old (47%), female (70%), Malay (56%) and from middle-income families (41%) and public schools (78%). CFA supported a model with five first-order factors (professional job, healthcare and people, academic, careers advising and family and friends) which were linked to a single second-order factor representing overall students’ motivation. Academic factors and healthcare and people had the highest standardized factor loadings (0.90 and 0.71, respectively), suggesting they were the main motivation to study dentistry. MANOVA showed that students from private schools had higher scores for healthcare and people than those in public schools whereas Malay students had lower scores for family and friends than those from minority ethnic groups. No differences were found by age, sex, family income and school type.

Conclusion

Using CFA, this study shows that academic factors were the main motivation to study dentistry in this group of Malaysian students. There were also variations in students’ motivation by students’ ethnicity and school sector but not by other factors.
Literature
1.
2.
Du Toit J, Jain S, Montalli V, Govender U. Dental students’ motivations for their career choice: an international investigative report. J Dent Educ. 2014;78(4):605–13.PubMed
3.
Costa SD, Silveira MF, Duraes SJA, de Abreu MHNG, Bonan PRF. Perceptions of dental students regarding dentistry, the job market and the public healthcare system. Cien Saude Colet. 2012;17(5):1285–96.CrossRef
4.
Brown D. Introduction to theories of career development and choice: origins, evolution and current efforts. In: Brown D, editor. Career choice and development. 4th ed. San Francisco, CA: Wiley; 2002. p. 3–23.
5.
Holland JL. Making vocational choices: a theory of vocational personalities and work environments. 3rd ed. Psychological Assessment Resources: Odessa, FL; 1997.
6.
Patton W, McMahon M. Career development and systems theory: connecting theory and practice. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Sense Publishers; 2014.
7.
Bernabe E, Icaza JL, Delgado-Angulo EK. Reasons for choosing dentistry as a career: a study involving male and female first-year students in Peru. Eur J Dent Educ. 2006;10(4):236–41.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Khami MR, Murtomaa H, Jafarian M, Vehkalahti MM, Virtanen JI. Study motives and career choices of Iranian dental students. Med Princ Pract. 2008;17(3):221–6.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Vahid Dastjerdi M, Mahdian M, Vahid Dastjerdi E, Namdari M. Study motives and career choices of Iranian medical and dental students. Acta Med Iran. 2012;50(6):417–24.PubMed
10.
Gallagher JE, Patel R, Donaldson N, Wilson NH. The emerging dental workforce: why dentistry? A quantitative study of final year dental students’ views on their professional career. BMC Oral Health. 2007;7:7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
11.
Skelly AM, Fleming GJ. Perceptions of a dental career among successful applicants for dentistry compared with those of fifth-year dental students. Prim Dent Care. 2002;9(2):41–6.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Gallagher J, Clarke W, Wilson N. Understanding the motivation: a qualitative study of dental students’ choice of professional career. Eur J Dent Educ. 2008;12(2):89–98.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Belsi A, Gallagher JE, Asimakopoulou K. Personality profile of students entering dentistry, hygiene/therapy and dental nursing at one London dental institute. Eur J Dent Educ. 2011;15(2):80–4.CrossRefPubMed
14.
Karibe H, Kawakami T, Suzuki A, Warita S, Ogata K, Aoyagi K, et al. Career choice and attitudes towards dental education amongst dental students in Japan and Sweden. Eur J Dent Educ. 2009;13(2):80–6.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Vigild M, Schwarz E. Characteristics and study motivation of Danish dental students in a longitudinal perspective. Eur J Dent Educ. 2001;5(3):127–33.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Marino RJ, Morgan MV, Winning T, Thomson WM, Marshall RI, Gotjamanos T, et al. Sociodemographic backgrounds and career decisions of Australian and New Zealand dental students. J Dent Educ. 2006;70(2):169–78.PubMed
17.
Brand AA, Chikte UM, Thomas CJ. Choosing dentistry as a career–a profile of entering students (1992) to the University of Sydney, Australia. Aust Dent J. 1996;41(3):198–205.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Scarbecz M, Ross JA. Gender differences in first-year dental students’ motivation to attend dental school. J Dent Educ. 2002;66(8):952–61.PubMed
19.
Cohen R, Coburn D. Motivations for studying dentistry among first-year dental students. Med Educ. 1977;11(2):139–50.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Karibe H, Suzuki A, Sekimoto T, Srithavaj ML, Iamaroon A, Warita S, et al. Cross-cultural comparison of the attitudes of dental students in three countries. J Dent Educ. 2007;71(11):1457–66.PubMed
21.
Rashid H, Manoharan A, Abufanas S, Gallagher J. Motivation for a career in dentistry: the views of dental students in the United Arab Emirates. Int Dent J. 2013;63(5):259–65.PubMed
22.
Stewart FM, Drummond JR, Carson L, Hoad RG. The future of the profession–a survey of dental school applicants. Br Dent J. 2004;197(9):569–73. quiz 577.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Bedi R, Gilthorpe MS. Ethnic and gender variations in university applicants to United Kingdom medical and dental schools. Br Dent J. 2000;189(4):212–5.PubMed
24.
Halawany HS. Career motivations, perceptions of the future of dentistry and preferred dental specialties among saudi dental students. Open Dent J. 2014;8:129–35.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
25.
Al Jazairy YH, Halawany HS, Hussainan NA, Maflehi NA, Abraham NB, Jacob V. Factors affecting job satisfaction and their correlation with educational standards among dental assistants. Ind Health. 2014;52(4):324–33.CrossRefPubMed
26.
Aggarwal A, Mehta S, Gupta D, Sheikh S, Pallagatti S, Singh R, et al. Dental students’ motivations and perceptions of dental professional career in India. J Dent Educ. 2012;76(11):1532–9.PubMed
27.
Oral Health Division Ministry of Health Malaysia. National Oral Health Survey of School Children 6 Year Olds. Putrajaya: OHD, Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2009.
28.
Oral Health Division of Health Malaysia: National Oral Health Survey of School Children. 12 year olds. Putrajaya: OHD, Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2007. p. 2010.
29.
Oral Health Division MoH Malaysia. National Oral Health Survey of Adults 2010 (NOHSA 2010). Putrajaya: Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2013.
30.
Ministry of Health Malaysia. Health Facts 2012. Health Informatics Centre, Planning and Development Division. Malaysia: Ministry of Health; 2013.
31.
Malaysian Dental Council. Annual Report 2011. Cyberjaya: Malaysian Dental Council; 2012.
32.
Ministry of Health Malaysia. Annual Report 2010. Putrajaya: Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2011.
33.
Malaysian Dental Council. Annual Report 2013. Cyberjaya: Malaysian Dental Council; 2014.
34.
Ministry of Health Malaysia. Country Health Plan-10th Malaysia Plan 2011-2015. Putrajaya: Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2010.
35.
Gallagher JE, Clarke W, Eaton KA, Wilson NH. Dentistry - a professional contained career in healthcare. A qualitative study of vocational dental practitioners’ professional expectations. BMC Oral Health. 2007;7:16.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
36.
Kevin KE. Using Mplus for structural equation modeling. Saint Mary’s University. Canada: SAGE Publications; 2014.
37.
Byrne BM. Factor analytic models: viewing the structure of an assessment instrument from three perspectives. J Pers Assess. 2005;85(1):17–32.CrossRefPubMed
38.
Kline R. Principle and practice of structural equation modelling. 2nd ed. New York: The Guilford Press; 2005.
39.
Floyd FJ, Widaman KF. Factor analysis in the development and refinement of clinical assessment instruments. Psychol Assessment. 1995;7(3):286–99.CrossRef
40.
Alatas SH. The grading of occupational prestige amongst the Malays in Malaysia. J Malays Branch R Asiat Soc. 1968;41(1):146–56.
41.
Gallagher J. Specialties in transition: the case of oral and maxillofacial surgery. In: The future health workforce. Basingstoke & New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2003. p. 104–23.
42.
Hassler D, Stage FK. Family and high school experience influences on the postsecondary educational plans of ninth-grade students. Am Educ Res J. 1992;29(425).
43.
Connor HC, Tyers T, Mdoood T, Hillage J. Why the difference? A closer look at higher education minority ethnic students and graduates. London: Department for Education and Skills; 2004.
44.
Embong A. State-led modernization and the new middle class in Malaysia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2002.CrossRef
45.
Veal K, Perry M, Stavisky J, Herbert KD. The pathway to dentistry for minority students: from their perspective. J Dent Educ. 2004;68(9):938–46.PubMed
Metadata
Title
Students’ motivation to study dentistry in Malaysia: an analysis using confirmatory factor analysis
Authors
Muhd Firdaus Che Musa
Eduardo Bernabé
Jennifer E Gallagher
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Human Resources for Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1478-4491
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-015-0040-4

Other articles of this Issue 1/2015

Human Resources for Health 1/2015 Go to the issue

Case study

Sultanate of Oman: building a dental workforce

Research

Profile, knowledge, and work patterns of a cadre of maternal, newborn, and child health CHWs focusing on preventive and promotive services in Morogoro Region, Tanzania

Research

A path analysis study of retention of healthcare professionals in urban India using health information technology

Research

What motivates doctors to leave the UK NHS for a “life in the sun” in New Zealand; and, once there, why don’t they stay?

Hypothesis

Task sharing within a managed clinical network to improve child health in Malawi

Methodology

Factors affecting retention of allied health professionals working with people with disability in rural New South Wales, Australia: discrete choice experiment questionnaire development