Dental students' part-time jobs in dental practices in the Netherlands.
OBJECTIVE
In the Netherlands, the Individual Health Care Professions Act (IHCP Act) allows dental students, amongst other non-qualified individuals, to work under certain conditions in a dental practice. The aim of the study was to determine how many dental students have part-time employment in dental practice and which professional tasks they carry out. We also asked the dental students their opinion about the IHCP Act.


METHODS
All the enrolled dental students at the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA) in the Netherlands received a questionnaire by e-mail. Within 1 month, two reminders were sent.


RESULTS
The response was 44% (427 students). Of the responding students, 71% had paid employment in addition to their study. Twenty-five per cent of all students worked in a dental practice, usually 8 h a week. Study year and age were positively related to working part-time in dental practice. Activities frequently performed were providing chair side assistance, giving oral hygiene instruction, fluoride applications, scaling and root planning. The self-reported knowledge about the IHCP Act was positively related to study year and working in a dental practice. Hardly any information about the requirements of the IHCP Act with regard to delegation of tasks was provided by the employer.


CONCLUSIONS
Many Dutch dental students work in a dental practice, taking over a variety of tasks. Although the self-reported knowledge about the IHCP Act was relatively high, many dental students expressed the need for more detailed information about the legal aspects of their tasks.
Poorterman
J H G
JH
Departments of Social Dentistry and Behavioural Sciences, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, the Netherlands. j.poorterman@acta.nl
Dikkes
B T
BT
Brand
H S
HS
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D032022:Delegation, Professional / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003726:Dental Assistants; D012534:Dental Scaling; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D005460:Fluorides, Topical / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000193:education; D011231:Preceptorship / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016745:Root Planing; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology
D005460:Fluorides, Topical