Introduction: Particularities of medical training are characterized by a high workload, and long duration make that the motivation of residents in the odontological disciplines can be put to the test. The aim of this work was to identify determining factors in decision-making for specialization in odontological disciplines and describe different types of motivation that animate resident dentists in specialization at the Dentistry Faculty of Casablanca. Materials and method: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted in 2024 at the Faculty of Dentistry of Casablanca. Target population was residents enrolled in the National Diploma of Dentistry Specialty during the academic year 2023/2024. An anonymous questionnaire that explores socio-demographic data and data related to academic motivation. Data collected were statistically analyzed with SPSS 16.0 software and the student t-test was used to compare quantitative variables with 5% as the significance threshold P < 0.05. Results: Female sex (n = 35) was the most represented with 83.33%. Intrinsic motivation to knowledge was highest in our respondents with 4.10 ± 0.76 for the female sex and 4.14 ± 0.82 for the male sex, respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed between female and male P = 0.912. Conclusion: Scientific curiosity is the main motivational factor for students at the Faculty of Dentistry in Casablanca to undertake postgraduate studies. Intrinsic motivation, by its knowledge-regulated component (MICO), followed by extrinsic motivation, by identified regulation (MEID), is the most predominant among residents; amotivation represented the lowest values of the motivational components.
Cite this paper
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