Submitted:
21 December 2023
Posted:
22 December 2023
You are already at the latest version
Abstract
Keywords:
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Application of SWOT for dental students
2.2. Sample of the study
2.3. Ethics Statement
2.4. Methods
2.5. Statistical analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Limitations
5. Conclusions
6. Appendix A
7. Appendix B
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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| Issue | Innovative approach |
| 1. Identifying personal strengths and weaknesses. | Utilize SWOT analysis for a comprehensive assessment, highlighting attributes like work ethic, manual dexterity, communication skills, and academic background. Leverage strengths and actively work on weaknesses for personal and professional development. |
| 2. Opportunities for growth and development. | Employ SWOT analysis as an educational tool to recognize opportunities in dental education, such as research projects, community outreach, specialized training, and professional networking. Capitalize on identified opportunities to enhance skills and knowledge. |
| 3. Recognizing threats and challenges. | Use SWOT analysis to acknowledge challenges like academic workloads, competition, evolving technology, and staying updated with practices. Develop strategies to handle challenges effectively and mitigate potential risks. |
| 4. Career planning and decision-making. | Apply SWOT analysis for informed career decisions by aligning strengths with suitable career paths. Address weaknesses through further education, training, or mentorship. |
| 5. Personal development and improvement strategies. | Develop action plans post-SWOT analysis. For example, if communication skills are identified as a weakness, engage in public speaking groups or communication workshops. Capitalize on strengths through extracurricular activities and mentorship. |
Strengths
|
Weaknesses
|
Opportunities
|
Threats
|
| Total (N=114) | Gender | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male (n=43) | Female (n=71) | |||||
| n | % | N | % | N | % | |
| Strengths | ||||||
| Industriousness | 28 | 24.6% | 10a | 23.3% | 18a | 25.4% |
| Organization skills | 56 | 49.1% | 14a | 32.6% | 42b | 59.2% |
| Knowledge | 30 | 26.3% | 17a | 39.5% | 13b | 18.3% |
| Communication skills | 57 | 50.0% | 22a | 51.2% | 35a | 49.3% |
| Practical skills | 20 | 17.5% | 10a | 23.3% | 10a | 14.1% |
| Personal traits1 | 38 | 33.3% | 12a | 27.9% | 26a | 36.6% |
| Weaknesses | ||||||
| Anxiety | 47 | 41.2% | 12a | 27.9% | 35b | 49.3% |
| Personal traits2 | 35 | 30.7% | 14a | 32.6% | 21a | 29.6% |
| Lack of initial capital | 28 | 24.6% | 10a | 23.3% | 18a | 25.4% |
| Organization difficulties | 19 | 16.7% | 9a | 20.9% | 10a | 14.1% |
| Lack of experience or clinical skills | 16 | 14.0% | 9a | 20.9% | 7a | 9.9% |
| Perfectionism | 12 | 10.5% | 7a | 16.3% | 5a | 7.0% |
| Opportunities | ||||||
| Collaboration with experienced dentists in dental practice | 38 | 33.3% | 18a | 41.9% | 20a | 28.2% |
| Training/Specialization | 31 | 27.2% | 6a | 14.0% | 25b | 35.2% |
| Dentists/Physicians in the family | 13 | 11.4% | 9a | 20.9% | 4b | 5.6% |
| Work as an intern | 12 | 10.5% | 3a | 7.0% | 9a | 12.7% |
| Threats | ||||||
| Economic instability | 88 | 77.2% | 27a | 62.8% | 61b | 85.9% |
| Saturated profession | 30 | 26.3% | 15a | 34.9% | 15a | 21.1% |
| High initial capital | 27 | 23.7% | 8a | 18.6% | 19a | 26.8% |
| Taxation | 16 | 14.0% | 11a | 25.6% | 5b | 7.0% |
| Political instability | 15 | 13.2% | 3a | 7.0% | 12a | 16.9% |
|
1 persistence, patience, attention to detail, consistency, decisiveness, critical thinking 2 short-tempered, impatient, over-patient, indecisive Note: Values in the same row not sharing the same subscript are significantly different at p < .05. Cells with no subscript are not included in the test. a, b: significant differences | ||||||
| Total | Sex | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | |||||
| n | % | N | % | n | % | |
| Values | ||||||
| Industriousness | 28 | 24.6% | 11a | 25.6% | 17a | 23.9% |
| Persistence | 40 | 35.1% | 17a | 39.5% | 23a | 32.4% |
| Patience | 25 | 21.9% | 9a | 20.9% | 16a | 22.5% |
| Ethics/Respect | 33 | 28.9% | 13a | 30.2% | 20a | 28.2% |
| Faith | 15 | 13.2% | 6a | 14.0% | 9a | 12.7% |
| Organization | 25 | 21.9% | 10a | 23.3% | 15a | 21.1% |
| Goal setting | 13 | 11.4% | 4a | 9.3% | 9a | 12.7% |
| Actions | ||||||
| Training/Seminars | 66 | 57.9% | 20a | 46.5% | 46a | 64.8% |
| Gaining experience | 34 | 29.8% | 14a | 32.6% | 20a | 28.2% |
| Participate in Scientific Conferences | 19 | 16.7% | 3a | 7.0% | 16b | 22.5% |
| Postgraduate studies | 17 | 14.9% | 5a | 11.6% | 12a | 16.9% |
| Marketing | 13 | 11.4% | 6a | 14.0% | 7a | 9.9% |
| Action clusters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Taking advantage of all available options (n=49) |
2 Focus on professional experience (n=65) |
|||
| Predictors | N | % | n | % |
| Training/Seminars | 27 | 55.1% | 39 | 60.0% |
| Gaining experience | 10 | 20.4% | 24 | 36.9% |
| Participate in Scientific Conferences | 19 | 38.8% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Postgraduate studies | 17 | 34.7% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Marketing | 13 | 26.5% | 0 | 0.0% |
| B | S.E. | Wald | Df | p | OR | 95% C.I. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower | Upper | ||||||||
| Industriousness | -1.085 | .503 | 4.652 | 1 | .031 | .338 | .126 | .906 | |
| Personal traits (strengths) | 1.072 | .433 | 6.130 | 1 | .013 | 2.922 | 1.250 | 6.828 | |
| Economic instability | .767 | .515 | 2.216 | 1 | .137 | 2.152 | .784 | 5.905 | |
| Gender (Female vs Male) | .008 | .430 | .000 | 1 | .986 | 1.008 | .433 | 2.342 | |
| Constant | -1.012 | .752 | 1.812 | 1 | .178 | .364 | |||
| Mindset category | Profile | Actions taken by the person | Educational approaches from dental schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed mindset | "Well, that’s it. I’m stuck” | Mistakes equate to failure | Lack of receptivity to feedback, aversion to risk, and stagnant self-perception |
| Growth mindset | “Interesting. What can I learn from this?” | Mistakes seen as opportunities for growth | Openness to feedback, actively seeks learning opportunities, values self-growth |
| Evolutionary mindset | “What does this say about me: how can I grow myself?” | Mistakes seen as a pathway to self-knowledge | Introspection, continuous self-learning, and a deep commitment to personal growth |
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