Academic Dentistry as a First Career Choice

Objectives: The American Dental Education Association has warned about the current paucity of dental educators nationwide. This is most likely to be exacerbated to approximately 900 vacancies within the decade. This qualitative pilot study examined dental professionals’ perceptions of academic dentistry by interviewing professionals involved in academic careers and private practice from a diverse pool of participants at different stages of their career.

Methods: After ethical approval was received, two groups were recruited to participate in the study: (1) licensed dentists who work full time in private-practices; (2) licensed dentists who work full-time at academic institutions. Semi-structured 30-minute phone and/or in person interviews were conducted by one investigator. Data was transcribed and independently coded in three phases by 3 investigators: (1) immersion in data, creation of initial code list, coding data, and iteratively revising the code list; (2) creating clusters of codes, generating themes, and consulting literature; (3) providing explanatory models.

Results: Three professionals from private practice and three from academic dentistry participated. The themes that emerged were related to academic draws, academic barriers, work-life balance, perceptions of the field, career desires, and academic and practice interplay. All participants from both groups agreed that lower salary, amount of debt, removal from real-life dentistry, and negative work/life balance are factors that deter those who may consider academics. Participants also suggested that encouragement of volunteers and younger faculty, increased financial support for research, strengthened business education, and opportunities for career development are aspects that academic institutions should aim to focus on. Participants involved in academia indicated that a potential high impact on the field of dentistry, passion for teaching, and influence of mentors drove them to this field.

Conclusions: The study findings revealed assets and barriers of academic dentistry and might help identify strategies to promote dental professionals’ involvement in academia.