Factors Associated with the Satisfaction of Millennial Generation Dental Residents

Data from the 2010 Learners' Perceptions Survey (LPS) administered through the Office of Academic Affiliations, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were analyzed to identify factors associated with dental residents' satisfaction with the VA as a clinical training environment. Satisfaction scores were linked to clinic workloads, dental procedure complexity levels, staffing patterns, and facility infrastructure data to explore conditions that may improve residents' satisfaction. Findings supported the construct validity of the LPS survey data and underscored the importance of maintaining optimal ratios of attending dentists, dental assistants, and administrative staff to residents so that each trainee will have opportunities to perform an adequate level of dental workload. As programs strive to improve the quality of graduate dental education, findings from this study are vital for setting curriculum design guidelines and for providing infrastructure support for dental resident education.