Introduction:

Following up the employment situation of graduates is a tool useful to obtain a diagnosis of the context where they perform their professional activities and induce higher education institutions to reflect upon the subject.

Objective:

Identify the employment situation of graduates from the University of Cartagena School of Dentistry in the period 1990-1999.

Methods:

An observational retrospective longitudinal descriptive study was conducted. The study population was 517 dental professionals graduating in the period 1990-1999, from whom a sample of 213 was obtained. Among the variables analyzed were the distribution of graduates according to their sociodemographic characteristics, employment situation, economic situation and the relationship between employment situation and sociodemographic characteristics.

Results:

Of the total sample, 82.6% were performing tasks related to their university studies. Of these, 68.5% had a job in the Caribe region and 73.2% in the private sector. The average monthly income of 70.9% of the participants was above 2 000 000 pesos. As to contractual conditions, 49.8% were hired full time and 40.4% had an indefinite term contract.

Conclusions:

Despite the great offer of dentists in Colombia nowadays, most of the graduates evaluated have a job related to their studies, which provides them with sufficient economic means to meet their needs.

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