title: Factors Influencing Resident Choice of Prosthodontic Residency Program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The decision by prosthodontic residency program directors to employ the Match process highlights the need to understand applicant priorities that influence their choice of which programs to rank highly. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that were most important to residents when choosing from among nonmilitary based prosthodontics dental residency programs in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Following completion of a pilot study, all currently enrolled prosthodontic residents at nonmilitary residency programs were invited to participate via the internet. The study consisted of a survey instrument asking residents to rank 26 possible factors that might impact an applicant's choice of residency program. In addition, the instrument collected other possible influencing variables including gender and debt load. Mean rank scores were compared to determine the most and least important factors. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare specific factors between the possible influencing variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and thirty residents completed the survey instrument, representing a 54.1% response rate of possible participants. With regard to factors influencing program choice, reputation of the residency program was the factor ranked the highest by participants, followed in descending order by the program director's personality, curriculum content, access to use of the latest digital technology, and opportunities for dental implant placement. Quality of schools for children, community outreach opportunities, and the ability to moonlight were ranked as the least important factors. Male and female residents ranked factors such as tuition/stipend, curriculum content, and community outreach opportunities significantly differently. Depending on debt load, residents ranked the factors tuition/stipend, ability to moonlight, curriculum content, and safety of the area where the program is differently.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current prosthodontic residents valued the reputation of the program as the most important factor when applying to residency. Participant gender and debt load influence the factors chosen by residents as more or less important. These data will assist prosthodontic educators position their programs in the best possible light to attract applicants to their programs.
authors.affiliation: Division of Advanced Prosthodontics, University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Pandora Keala Lee
authors.initials: PKL
authors.lastname: Wojnarwsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Advanced Prosthodontics, University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Kumar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Division of Advanced Prosthodontics, University of California Los Angeles School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, CA.|Department of Advanced Prosthodontics, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry, Loma Linda, CA.
authors.forename: Sreenivas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koka
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D011476:Prosthodontics / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: Resident preferences; residency program selection; survey