Dental graduates: perceived academic training, job satisfaction, and fulfillment of performance expectations

Abstract

Introduction: Entering the labor market is an important step for young people toward attaining self-sufficiency, where several complex circumstances are involved. Identifying such circumstances is vital to promote their full, early and timely professional integration. Studies focused on dental graduates make a significant contribution to achieving this goal.

Objective: To assess the perception that dental graduates of a Mexican public university have of their professional training, its relationship with job satisfaction and the fulfillment of professional expectations.

Method: Cross-sectional observational study involving 185 dental graduates of two Mexican dental schools. An online survey was administered to assess job satisfaction and fulfillment of expectations. Experts obtained evidence of content validity and Cronbach’s alpha was calculated. Chi-square tests and an exploratory data analysis to obtain the frequency distribution of all the variables were performed. Two logistic regression models were fitted.

Results: 75% of the graduates had a job related to their professional training, 78.9% considered their training useful, and 78.1% were satisfied with their jobs. However, 50.3% were dissatisfied with their income, and only 41.5% believed that their training prepared them for clinical work. Those satisfied with their income and holding a job related to their professional training were 8.5 times more likely to be satisfied with their employment situation and 5.46 times more likely to have met their expectations.

Conclusions: Graduates perceived that their professional training contributed significantly to their job satisfaction and the fulfillment of their expectations, except in the clinical field. It is essential to continue conducting research on dental graduates.