A qualitative study of Vocational Dental Practitioners' future career intentions

Objectives: To investigate VDPs' vision of their professional career and their long-term goals, exploring how they perceived their professional working lives may be enhanced.

Methods: Qualitative data were collected during 10 focus groups held with VDPs from different, representative parts of England and Wales. The focus groups took place during routine day release courses. A topic guide was utilised to standardise data collection across the groups. Informants views were recorded on tape and field notes. Data were transcribed and analysed using Framework Methodology.

Results: A total of 99 VDPs participated in the focus groups. Analysis identified common themes or concepts in the data. Long-term professional goals included: exploring career opportunities (from ‘generalist' to ‘specialist', with particular interest in the concept of ‘dentists with a special interest'); location of work; modes of employment (self-employed to managed); systems of working (NHS/private/mixed practice); levels of commitment (none/part-time/full-time); working environment; and quality of life. Factors enhancing VDPs long-term expectations care fell into six main categories: professional, personal, financial, political, social and cultural. Professional factors included continuing job satisfaction, status, and career development. Personal factors included achieving work/life balance and career breaks to manage family responsibilities. Financial factors included paying off debts and attaining a personal lifestyle commensurate with being a professional.

Conclusions: Vocational dental practitioners who participated in the study held professional expectations that were closely linked with their personal lives and support a vision of work/life balance.