article · Ibom Medical Journal
Oral and maxillofacial surgery involves a broad scope of clinical management, resulting in high patient numbers and heavy workloads that may influence young practitioners' career choices and productivity. A descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated interest in specialising in the field, as well as knowledge and clinical decision-making confidence, among 64 final-year dental students and interns. Only 34.4 percent of participants expressed an interest in pursuing the specialty. While higher proportions of interested participants demonstrated strong knowledge and high confidence in clinical decisions compared to their uninterested peers, these differences were not statistically significant. Overall, most students and interns did not intend to specialise in oral and maxillofacial surgery, although those with interest generally exhibited greater knowledge and decision-making confidence.
Understanding what drives trainee interest in demanding surgical fields is vital for maintaining an adequate healthcare workforce. When fewer dental trainees choose intensive specialties such as oral and maxillofacial surgery, long-term clinical capacity and patient access to specialised surgical care may be compromised.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway or commercialisation opportunity, as it focuses strictly on assessing educational interest, knowledge, and clinical confidence among trainees.
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Background: Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is a surgical specialty that covers a wide scope of management. This translates to a high inflow of patients and an increased workload for practitioners. This increased workload may affect the interest of young dental practitioners in the specialty which may negatively influence their productivity. Objectives: To determine the level of interest in OMFS and its effect on knowledge and confidence in clinical decision making among final year dental students and dental interns. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Lagos and the Dental Center, Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Participants were final year dental students and dental interns. Interest in OMFS for future specialization, knowledge on management of OMFS cases, and level of confidence in management choices were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Results: A total of 64 dental students and interns with mean age of 25.9±2.09 years participated in the study. Among the 22 (34.4%) participants interested in OMFS, 12 (12/22, 54.5%) had high level of knowledge while among the 42 (65.6%) participants not interested in OMFS, only 15 (15/42, 35.7%) had high level of knowledge. Similarly, among participants interested in OMFS, 15 (15/22, 68.2%) had high confidence in their clinical decisions in OMFS case management while among participants not interested in OMFS, 24 (24/42, 57.1%) had high confidence. There was no statistically significant relationship between interest in OMFS and knowledge and confidence level (p> 0.05 for both relationships). Conclusion: The majority of participants included were not interested in OMFS as a future specialty. Among those interested, the majority had a high level of knowledge and confidence. Although these results were not statistically significant, they highlight the importance of interest in productivity.
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DOI: 10.61386/imj.v18i3.705
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