Impact of career choice motivation on academic burnout in senior dental students

Abstract Background Motivation is the basis of many activities including learning, and lack of career motivation can lead to decreased efficiency. This study assessed the association between academic burnout and career choice motivation in senior dental students. Methods This cross-sectional study evaluated senior dental students of all four dental schools in Tehran, in 2017. Dental students voluntarily filled-out a 33-question questionnaire with three parts. The first part of the questionnaire included the Burnout Clinical Subtype Questionnaire (BCSQ-SS) with 12 questions regarding academic burnout. The second part included 8 questions regarding career choice motivations and the third part included 13 questions regarding demographics. The individual scores of each domain and the total score were reported. The factor analysis of 8 questions regarding dental career choice motivation yielded 3 factors of social status and security, altruism, and others’ advice motivations. Data were analyzed using the regression test. Results Totally, 131 students filled out the questionnaire (response rate = 86%). The total score of academic burnout was 38.89% ± 1.13%. The highest and the lowest burnout scores belonged to domains of “overload” (46.69%± 1.46%) and “neglect” (31.98%± 1.32%), respectively. The most and the least frequent motivations of students for choosing dentistry were high income and failing to enter other fields, respectively. The burnout score was higher in students with altruism motivations (P = 0.007) and lower in students with others’ advice motivations (P = 0.004). The burnout score was higher in students with inadequate or moderate financial support from the family and lower in students whose mothers’ educational level was equal or lower than high-school diploma. Conclusion Senior dental students in Tehran were involved with different levels of academic burnout. Low financial support and altruism as study motivations in career choice were associated with higher level of academic burnout.