title: Work experiences, professional development and career prospects of New Zealand dental house surgeons.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  New dental graduates compete for house surgeon positions every year, despite little being known about the work experience gained from such posts. The main objectives of this study were to identify the nature of house surgeons' work experiences, their continued professional development (CPD) opportunities and the impact of hospital experience on their future career pathways.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was mailed to all 31 New Zealand dental house surgeons (response rate 100%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of house surgeons (77.4%) found hospital work enjoyable, with nearly all (93.5%) perceiving themselves as better clinicians from their experience. Oral surgery, restorative dentistry, special needs dentistry and removable prosthodontics were the most commonly practised areas. The average weekly number of working hours was 42.3 hours for a normal week and 61.8 hours for an on-call week. Stress levels during on-call work were significantly higher than during day-to-day hospital work (p < 0.05). Departmental seminars were reported to be the most common form of CPD available at hospitals (74.2%), followed by hands-on clinical training (61.3%). More than half of the house surgeons (58.1%) planned to pursue a specialist career, with nearly 13% wishing to return to a New Zealand hospital in the future.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A dental house surgeon position remains an attractive choice and offers an enjoyable experience for young graduates. Hospitals provide ample CPD opportunities and appear to play an influential role in a house surgeon's career pathway.
authors.affiliation: Merivale Dental Group, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Jenny J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Joseph S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Antoun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003798:Dental Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004498:Education, Dental, Continuing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D013039:Specialties, Dental; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D055815:Young Adult