Self-Perceptions of Value, Barriers, and Motivations for Graduate Education Among Dental Hygienists.

Increasing the knowledge base of its practitioners through formal education is vital to advancing the dental hygiene profession, ensuring practitioners' readiness for participation in future health care workforce models, and preparing future dental hygiene educators. The aim of this study was to discover the value of, barriers to, and motivations for graduate education among dental hygienists as a first step toward establishing ways to stimulate enrollment and facilitate program change. A qualitative pilot study design was used, with focus groups used for data collection.