Nahid Y Ashri, Reem K Almoslem, Mai H Almujel.
General dental practitioner`s interest in Postgraduate Dental Education, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Pak Dent Assoc Jan ;16(2):82-9.

OBJECTIVE: To survey the interest of the Saudi general dental practitioners to specialize in dentistry, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A questionnaire was developed and distributed to male and female Saudi dental general practitioners including interns, senior and junior dentists in hospitals, primary care centers, government and private sectors, throughout Riyadh city. The questionnaire was developed in English and translated in Arabic. It consisted of 15 multiple-choice questions. Data were analyzed by age and gender at the significance level of 5%. RESULTS: Out of 500 survey forms distributed, 350 were replied giving a response rate of 70%. Male represented 36.5% of the respondents and 63.5% were females. Ninety percent were interested in continuing their higher dental education owing to self development, better income and position. Family reasons (47.6%) were the main hurdle for not being interested in higher dental education. With a significance difference in females. Fifty four percent of respondents prefer to study abroad and 42.3 % prefer to study inside the Kingdom. The board program was the most preferred higher dental education program selected by the respondents followed by the master program. The Dental specialties, Saudi general practitioners were ordinarily interested in: prosthodontics, orthodontics, endodontics, operative dentistry, pediatric dentistry with a significance difference between male and female. Participants assumed that the most needed specialty in Saudi Arabia is public health dentistry, followed by endodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery. Postgraduate dental education is still need in KSA as preferred by 97.9% of the participants, though, 76.3% of them believe that the general dental practitioners are more needed. CONCLUSION: Enthusiasm to continue postgraduate dental education by the general dental practitioners was identified. Dental schools should encourage students to become involved in lifelong learning and professional development.

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