A pilot survey of personality traits of dental students in the United States

Introduction The training of dental students and eventual practice of dentistry involves multiple components of the 'person'; therefore, understanding the personality of dental students is critical for creating a supportive student culture. Aims Our objective was to examine the personality traits of students attending Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry. Methods We collected qualitative descriptive research through an anonymous survey sent to all pre-doctoral students, which included the 50-item International Personality Item Pool of the Big Five Markers (IPIP-BFM). Fifty-three dental students completed the survey. Results Analysis indicated that two of the personality traits were significantly different for both gender and academic year. The most significant deviation in scores between genders occurred for 'agreeableness and emotional stability'. Discussion The results demonstrate there may be a degree of commonality of traits shared between dental students and other professionally trained students. Nevertheless, gender-related deviations were the most remarkable findings. Conclusion Studies of personality traits have been used to consider and implement needs-based student services in other professions. The results of surveys of this kind could be considered instrumental in structuring evidence-based student services throughout the dental training curriculum, as they have been helpful for training of other professions.