Cultural competence of Australian dental students.

BACKGROUND: Australia possesses a highly multicultural demographic, and thus dental practitioners are likely to regularly encounter culturally and linguistically diverse individuals. It is important for dental practitioners to be culturally competent, however, cultural competency education is highly variable in the curricula of dentistry and oral health courses in Australia, and research is largely limited to dentistry students. This study aims to investigate and compare perceived attitudes, beliefs and practices of cultural competence amongst first and final year Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) and Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) students at the University of Melbourne Dental School. METHODS: Following ethics approval, anonymous questionnaires were completed by 213 participants. The questionnaire was adapted from Schwarz's Healthcare Provider Cultural Competence Instrument and consisted of five scales. Data was analysed using SPSS V 24.0 software. RESULTS: A total of 213 students participated in this study (response rate = 88%) The majority of participants were female (n = 114, 53.5%) and the mean age of 23.5 years (range 18-40). The majority of participants were Australian born (n = 110) with 74.6% (n = 159) first generation Australians. Participants who identified as Australian represented 35.7% (n = 76) with 66.1% (n = 141) identified as partly Australian. Multivariate analysis indicated that, after controlling for other independent variables in the model, those who had the highest cultural competence score were female, who self-identify as "Australian", who were in the final year. Furthermore, those who were in the final BOH year scored significatively higher than final year DDS students. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that there is a significant difference in students self-reported cultural competence at different stages of their education. This may be attributed to differences in cultural competence education, scope of practice and the type of patient encounters and role modelling that students may experience. Future research should involve follow up to create longitudinal data, as well as research at other dental schools in Australia and overseas.

Factors associated with the recruitment and retention of dentists in the public sector.

OBJECTIVES: There is an increasing demand for public dental services in Australia, with many community dental clinics unable to meet this demand because of an inadequate number of dentists in the workforce. The aim of this study was to identify factors contributing to the recruitment and retention of dentists in the public sector. METHODS: A postal questionnaire survey of 180 dentists (response rate 75.6 percent) working in the Victorian public sector was undertaken to investigate the characteristics of public sector dentists, job satisfaction, remuneration, perceptions of public dentistry, future career intentions, and issues that relate to recruitment and retention of staff. RESULTS: Victorian public dentists' main reason for entering the public sector was to work in a community-based setting in a supportive and mentored environment. The main factors related to dentists leaving the public sector were poor remuneration, lack of clinical experience, and frustration with administrative policies. Victoria's oral health workforce shortages in the public sector are mainly attributed to retention issues. The potential for mentoring and a desire for helping those in need were factors attracting dentists to work in the public sector. CONCLUSION: There was a disproportionate number of female dentists in the public sector compared with the general population, and female dentists had a lower mean salary than male dentists regardless of experience. A range of factors were associated with retention, and gradual frustration because of poor remuneration and lack of professional autonomy were significant reasons for the decision to leave the public sector.