Relationship between career decision/ behavior and the pre-/post satisfaction of dental hygiene students in field practice

Mi-Gyung Seong1   Se-Hyun  Hwang1   Kyeung-Ae  Jang2,*   

Department of Dental Hygiene, Masan University
1Department of Dental Hygiene, Silla University

Abstract

This study was conducted to promote the value of field practice courses by installing an efficient field practice program through understanding the relationship between career decision/ behavior and the pre-/post satisfaction of dental hygiene students in field practice.The subjects of the study were students in Gyeongnam and Busan majoring in dental hygiene, from which 218 questionnaires were obtained from 23 November 2015 to 30 July 2016. In terms of career decision/ behavior, the post-satisfaction scores in ideas about their major, about whether it was helpful to selecting their speciality and positive impression of dental hygienists, interest and understanding in training course were significantly lower than the pre-satisfaction scores (p<0.05). Relationship between satisfaction in field training and career decision/ behavior following the field training, pre-/post-satisfaction on site-training content (r=0.371, p<0.01), pre-/post satisfaction in training instructions (r=0.267, p<0.01), and pre-/post-satisfaction in the training sites (r=0.436, p<0.01) were all proportionally correlated to the after-training career decision and behavior. It is necessary for training instructors to maintain close relationships with the students in field practice program courses. In advance, it is expected to promote students’ satisfaction in field practice and serve as a starting point where students can build self-esteem as a future dental hygienist by positively influencing their career decisions and behaviors.

Figures & Tables

Table 1. General characteristics of the subjects    Unit: N (%)