Using Assessments of Dental Students' Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy to Aid Practice Management Education

Dentists' entrepreneurial intention and associated factors in public hospitals in major cities in Guangdong (South China): a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

A rapid growth in private dentistry in China has been observed during recent years. Promoting the entrepreneurship of dentists has increasingly received attention in both dentistry and dental education worldwide. However, understanding about the unique features of entrepreneurial behaviors of dentists remains inadequate.

METHODS

This study examines dentist's entrepreneurial intention (EI), which was represented by his/her intention of leaving the public hospital system to be engaged in the private sector. Through a snowball sampling method, a total of 336 questionnaires from public hospitals in five major cities in Guangdong Province (China) were collected. The association between the dentists' EI and their individual characteristics were analyzed using a logistic regression model.

RESULTS

In the sample studied, 35.7% of the respondents reported to have EI. Female dentists are less likely to report EI (OR = 0.365, p = 0.001). Dentists in the age group of 36 to 45 years (OR = 14.205, p = 0.012) and those aged over 45 years (OR = 8.45, p = 0.066) reported respectively a much stronger EI than those in their 20s. Compared with intern dentists, attending dentists (OR = 7.812, p = 0.016) and associate/chief dentists (OR = 9.857, p = 0.021) were significantly more likely to report EI. Those with master level (OR = 0.221, p = 0.021) or doctorate degrees (OR = 0.118, p = 0.005) are much less likely to report EI. Meanwhile, those in mid-large hospitals (with 101-200 employees) (OR = 3.554, p = 0.036) and small hospitals (with < 50 employees) (OR = 2.398, p = 0.044) reported a stronger EI than those in large hospitals. Additionally, dentists' entrepreneurial behaviors, risk aversion attitudes and their family background all have significant associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Since dentistry is a knowledge-intensive industry, dentists' entrepreneurial behaviors have their own features. The findings by this study suggest that, accumulation of practical skills in a dental career, as implied by age, professional qualifications and leadership skills, help to promote EI, whereas an academic oriented education degree per se does not. Dentists in mid-large and small hospitals, rather than in top large hospitals in China, have higher EI. Additionally, female dentists may need more social supports to develop a higher EI. These findings have practical implications for the promotion of EI among dentists.

Exploration of Entrepreneurship Education by Linear Regression and Psychological Factor Analysis

To study the improvement of the entrepreneurial performance of start-ups and achieve an organic combination of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial performance, the entrepreneurial group of college students was taken as the springboard to discuss the entrepreneurial performance of start-ups initiated by college students. First, through questionnaire design and scale selection, the results of the questionnaire survey and the reliability and validity of the scale tool were tested. Second, the variable of college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy based on psychological factor analysis was introduced. The correlations among entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial performance were analyzed. Finally, the intermediary role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy was verified by using the hierarchical linear regression analysis method combined with the BARON three-part verification method. The results show that the response rate of the questionnaire is 92%, and the selection of research samples is scientific. The Cronbach's α reliability coefficients corresponding to each scale are all above 0.8, and the common factor variances are all above 0.7. Therefore, the reliability and validity of scale tools are good. Entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial performance are significantly correlated with each other. The college students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy has a good explanatory ability and plays an intermediary role; in the entrepreneurial innovation learning dimension, its corresponding β = 0.257; in the dimension of school organizational support, the corresponding β = 0.439; in the dimension of social interaction, the corresponding β = 0.238. The results have a reference value for studying entrepreneurship education and the improvement of entrepreneurial performance from a psychological level.

The Impact of Self-Efficacy Analysis-Based Psychological Theory and Literary Ethics on Chinese American Entrepreneurship Education

In this study, entrepreneurship education was explored from the perspective of the combination of psychology and literary ethics, with the purpose of studying the entrepreneurial behavior of Chinese American college students and promoting the development of entrepreneurship education. Based on the analysis of self-efficacy, the correlations among entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurial efficacy of the research samples were analyzed. First, through the questionnaire design, the research samples and the measurement scales of each research variable were determined, and the survey results and the reliability of the scale were analyzed and tested. Second, based on the variance analysis and regression analysis methods, a descriptive statistical analysis was performed on the correlations among entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial intentions, and entrepreneurial efficacy among Chinese American college students. Finally, the idea of literary ethics was integrated into entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial intentions, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and the correlation structure model was constructed. The intermediary role of entrepreneurial efficacy in entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention was tested. In addition, the individual gender and family entrepreneurial behaviors were considered. The results show that the valid response rate of the questionnaire, is satisfactory at, 96.49%; the reliability and validity of the scales of the research variables are satisfactory; the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient values are all above 0.80; and the fitting results of the confirmatory factors are satisfactory. The regression analysis results show significant correlations among entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial intentions, and entrepreneurial efficacy among Chinese American college students. Entrepreneurial efficacy has a partially intermediary role in the two dimensions of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. Individual gender and family entrepreneurial behaviors have moderating effects, on the entrepreneurial efficacy levels of college entrepreneurs. From the perspectives of psychology and literary ethics, the above results have positive effects on the development of entrepreneurship education.

The Level of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) achievements among the Interns and Fresh graduates of the BDS program

Objectives

Success of Dental Program depends on the students’ performance measured in terms of Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) achievement. The present study was carried out to evaluate the level of achievement of the PLOs among dental interns and fresh graduates as a direct measure for the success of the BDS program of the College of Dentistry, King Saud University.

Methods

An online survey instrument was used to seek the opinion of male and female dental interns and fresh graduates about the attainment of the PLOs distributed over 6 domains: patients’ care, communication & interpersonal skills, professionalism, practice management, information management & critical thinking, and health promotion domains on a five-point Likert scale. The data were analyzed using Minitab Statistical Software version 15.1.31.0. Descriptive as well as Chi-Square statistics were calculated to determine the significance of the responses to the levels of PLOs achievement at 0.05 level of significance.

Results

Levels of achievement of PLOs under the 6 domains indicated a good standard of planning, delivery, and evaluation of the BDS program. On an overall average score basis, the achievement of PLOs under the Communication-Interpersonal Skills domain ranked as highest with a score of 4.22 ± 0.88 followed by Professionalism (4.18 ± 0.85), Practice Management (4.03 ± 0.93), Patient care (3.94 ± 0.84) and Information Management-Critical Thinking domain with a score of 3.68 ± 0.96. The lowest score was achieved under Health promotion domain with a score of 3.60 ± 0.93. Statistically, no significant differences were found based on the graduation years and gender of the respondents.

Conclusion

The study revealed significant achievement of PLOs under all learning domains of the BDS curriculum taught at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University. However, achievement scores for Information Management, Critical Thinking, and Health Promotion domains require further improvement through reinforcement of the curriculum, updating of content, and teaching strategies.

Practice management curricular changes may lead to enhanced preparedness for practice

PURPOSE

The 2018 American Dental Education Association Survey of Dental School Seniors showed that 62.5% of graduates felt prepared in practice administration compared to 49.5% in 2013. The aim of this study was to survey and Internet search U.S. Dental Schools' Practice Management curriculum (PMC) to assess if and what changes, made in the past 5 years, may account for the continued increase in dental graduates' perception of preparedness for practice METHODS: An electronic survey was emailed to 64 dental schools querying factors for changes in PMC, updates in instructors, instructional methods, technology, topics, hours, and content enhancements. In addition, if a dual degree in business administration was developed or planned in the future.

RESULTS

Twenty-three schools responded for a 36.0% response rate. All participants (100.0%) indicated PMC changes, 73.9% responded that changes were motivated by student interest, and 60.9% planned future PMC improvements. All respondents (100.0%) updated subject matter and 52.2% had added technology, including Web-based business model and simulation courses. Two schools added dual degree MBA programs in 2017 due to student interest in entrepreneurship and administrative goals.

CONCLUSION

The study showed that upgrades in topics and teaching methods with Web-based technology, dual degrees, and additional focus on PMC hours, sequence, and number of practice administration courses in D1 and D2 years may be contributory factors for the development of enhanced skills and enhanced attitudes of graduates for practice readiness. Future study is needed to assess if these PMC improvements and advanced business courses have been successful in practicing dentists' careers.