Career Satisfaction among Dental Public Health specialist in India Chandrashekar Janakiram PhD MS DNB Joe Joseph MDS Bobby Antony BDS Amrita School of Dentistry Amrita Vishwa Vidhyapeetham Cochin Kerala

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Where do we stand ? It is super speciality – highly ! highly ! focused area Dentistry + Public Health MedicineDentistryPublic Health Public Health Dentistry

Journey,,,,,,,  Started from general dentist and even non dentist … with some knowledge or special training in public health  Arise -- out of need to combat community oral diseases  With special training, borrowed from the public health related to Dentistry  Public health dentistry is more of Western Concepts adopted in India  Initial development was due to lack of numbers (Manpower)

Journey….. India  Now numbers growing with tentacles of centres of education in dental public health is spreading across the country  75 dental colleges MDS seats  It has grown enormously {peak growth} in last decade  Reaching the transition stage -- Pink component is more !!!

What makes career in Public Health Dentistry ?  sense of achievement  success on the job  intrinsic motivation

Objectives  to assess career satisfaction in the Dental Public Health specialist in India

Methods  Questionnaire survey among Public Health Dentists in India from April to July  Content validated Questionnaire was adapted from Minnesota job satisfaction survey. Questionnaire included 40 enquiries mainly to understand the  Reasons for choosing public health dentistry as career,  Competencies of public health dentist,  Satisfaction as a Public Health Dentist and  Changes required in the Profession.  Google forms were used for online questionnaire administration

Results Gender Response rate Age

Results Year of completion of MDS Course Designation

Reasons for choosing public health dentistry as career

You feel that you have accomplished from present job as public health dentist

At your present job, you feel that there is advancement in your career or growth in Public Health Dentistry What fascinated you to join Public Health dentistry?

How you would envision yourself in another ten years in practice of public health dentistry? You feel you are getting enough recognition for work related public health dentistry

You have been rightly compensated for the work as public health dentist Given choice would like to change the career from public health dentistry to other?

Your feel the job or career in public health dentistry gives you steady employment Do you feel that public health dentistry trained needs a course correction?

What aspect of training in public health dentistry needs to be amended?

Public health dentistry training you have achieved is relevant to Indian community needs Do you feel there should be blanket cessation of post graduation in Public health dentistry ?

Public Health + Dentist “Public Health Dentist” Dentist Like any other Post graduate

Public Health Dentistry as a profession – Hard FACTS  Is subject born out necessity to user – patient or community needs  Does public health dentistry has been practiced or it is dependent on institution support Honest answer ? Yes and No or confused  It has become more of Teaching profession rather than practice ….  Teaching needs latest inputs from the public health practice,,,

Value proportions MDS Course After MDS

Career satisfaction among other medical speciality  highest  dermatologists  pathologists  psychiatrists  Least  internists  nephrologists  General surgeons 6 out 10 Public health specialist are satisfied

 Value creations are less or we have not explored its full potentiality  Is the profession is making the difference in oral health care ?  Is the profession is creating more opportunities ?  Is the career in the profession is satisfied ?  Is profession has become for personal achievement ? Introspection

© Chandrashekar and Vinita

Concluding …..  Majority of the dental public health specialist are confusion and road ahead ill defined.  Most believe that career is not satisfied in terms of personal satisfaction, achievement and growth.  public health dentistry as profession needs to be established  We have to explore the full potentiality of the Public health dentistry profession in India