Experience of undergraduates from three London dental schools and trainers from the south east of England on interviews for vocational training in 1996.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the current perceptions, motivations and expectations of trainers and vocational dental practitioners (VDPs) of vocational training (VT) interviews.

DESIGN: Questionnaire based study.

SETTING: General practice study carried out in 1996.

SUBJECTS: Undergraduates from three London dental schools and vocational trainers from south-east England.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceptions, motivation and experiences were assessed by a questionnaire.

RESULTS: 111 questionnaires were posted to trainers with 72 (65%) returned. 108 (70%) were returned from the dental schools after 155 were posted. Graduates employed in hospital training posts, armed forces and community dentistry were eliminated from the results. Most trainers (74%) had previous experience of VT and 89% of trainers thought that a CV was important for their choice of VDPs. However, only 11% of trainers sought references before interviewing. 34% of VDPs preferred jobs close to their dental school but 75% considered location to be vital to their choice. 67% of VDPs made 10 or more applications and 57% visited 10 or more practices for interviews. 78% of VDPs considered that either genderism or racism was likely to or possibly influenced the trainers choice. However, the converse was not true, 62% of trainers considered it unlikely that the VDPs were influenced by their gender or race.

CONCLUSIONS: Trainers and VDPs have different perceptions concerning the protocol of interviews for VT.