31
Volume3 Issue1
|
S
upporting
Y
our
P
ractice
Dental Students’ Perspectives on
RuralDental Practice
The following is based on a research article originally published
in the “AppliedResearch” section of
JCDA.ca
—CDA’s online,
open access scholarly publication that features articles indexed in
Medline, Journal CitationReports and ScienceCitation Index.
The shortageof dentists in rural and remotecommunities isapersistent challenge for the
Canadianhealthcare system.
1-7
Many factors impede the recruitment and retentionof dental
careproviders in rural and remoteareas,
20
including sociodemographiccharacteristics,
environmental barriers, income, and lackof professional and familial support.
2,3,16,20-23
Researchers
from theUniversitédeMontréal andMcGillUniversityexplored theknowledgeandperspectives
ofQuebec’s futuredentists regarding rural dental practiceand their career intentions inanarticle
publishedon
JCDA.ca
.
Interviewswere carriedoutwith10women and7men from theUniversitédeMontréal
andMcGill University, aged22–39 years. Thirteenparticipantswere4th-year dental
students, and4were residents inorthodontics andprosthodontics. Most participants
described their socioeconomic status as average, but emphasized their high level of debt
resulting from the cost of their education.
Face-to-face, semi-structured interviewswere conducted and audio-recorded. Each
interview startedwithquestions regarding level of knowledge about rural dentistry,
followedbymore specificquestions about theparticipant’sperspectives andexpectations.
Results
Fivemajor themes emerged from the interviews.
➊➤
AwarenessofAccess toOralHealthCare inRuralAreas
Most studentswereawareof disparitiesbetween rural andurban regionswith regard
toavailabilityof dental personnel andaccess todental services. However, theywere less
clear about thecausesof thesedisparities andhealthcarepolicies that could improve the
situation. Studentswereexposed tounderprivilegedpopulations viaoutreachprograms,
communitydentistryandcourses indental publichealth, but theseacademicactivitiesdid
not focuson rural communities.
A few studentsmentioned that representativesof dental recruitment agencies anddental
companieswere theirmain sourcesof informationabout rural dentistry. Some, especially
thosewitha rural backgroundorwithworkexperience in rural and remoteareas, hadmore
knowledgeon the issue.
➋➤
ImageofRurality
Most recognized that rural areas aredifferent fromurbanareas; theyassociated rural regions
witha slower paceof lifeanda family-orientedenvironment. A few students appreciated the
ResearchSummary
NastaranSharifian
DDS,MSc
ChristopheBedos
DDS,PhD
JohnWootton
MD
IssamJEl-Murr
DMD
AnneCharbonneau
DMD,PhD
ElhamEmami
DDS,PhD
elham.emami@
Access the full-text
articleat
jcda.ca/article/f23
MoreOnline
Photograph: DestinationCanada
