‘It doesn't matter where you come from, it matters where you go': Peninsula dental students' career decisions and intentions

Mills, Ian, Clarry, Laura, Rathbone, Amy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8398-9533, Bryce, Marie and Hanks, Sally (2025) ‘It doesn't matter where you come from, it matters where you go': Peninsula dental students' career decisions and intentions. British Dental Journal. ISSN 0007-0610

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Abstract

Introduction:  The south west of England is widely recognised as a ‘dental desert' with limited access to NHS (National Health Service) dentistry. One of the major contributing factors to NHS capacity is recruitment and retention of dentists in the region, particularly in rural and coastal areas. Peninsula Dental School was established in 2006 to help address some of the workforce issues at that time, yet despite the success of the Dental School, many dental students still do not stay in the region following graduation.  Aims: This study aimed to understand factors that influence career intentions and decisions of present and past dental students of Peninsula Dental School. Methods: The study used semi-structured qualitative interviews that were thematically analysed to establish key data themes.  Results: Five themes were identified detailing influencing factors: connections, location, undergraduate experience, professional opportunities, and financial considerations.  Conclusion: This study identified key factors impacting the career decisions of dentists qualifying from Peninsula Dental School which can be used to inform future decisions relating to the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan for dentistry.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Data availability: The qualitative data reported within this article are available from the corresponding author (IM), upon reasonable request. The data have been anonymised with any identifying elements redacted.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	general dentistry ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3500/3500
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Mental Health and Social Care (fka Lifespan Health)
Related URLs:	https://www.scopus.com/pages/publication...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	18 Aug 2026 13:07
Last Modified:	19 Aug 2026 15:53
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/104224
DOI:	10.1038/s41415-025-8810-4

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