Abstract

SILVA, Aline Claudia Ribeiro Medeiros et al. Profile of dentists trained with an integrated curriculum at a Brazilian public teaching institution. Rev. ABENO [online]. 2012, vol.12, n.2, pp. 147-154. ISSN 1679-5954.

The aim of this study was to characterize the profile of the State University of Maringa Dentistry Course alumni and relate the contribution of the institution’s pedagogic project to their professional life. An on-line questionnaire composed of 20 questions was sent via email to alumni who graduated between 2003 and 2010. MYSQL and SQLYOG software were used for storage and retrieval of the information, respectively, and data were exported to XLS (Microsoft Excel) format for a descriptive analysis. Of a total of 273 alumni from this period, 208 (76%) were contacted, 148 of which responded to the questionnaire (71%). The majority of the alumni were women (63%), with an age range from 26 to 30 years, who came from Paraná (84%) and worked in that state (80%). Approximately 50% reported an annual income of 12 thousand to 36 thousand real (R$/annum). The majority were currently taking or had taken some graduate courses (95%) and were working in private practice (61%). Only 9% felt that they had achieved financial satisfaction. As regards the pedagogic proposal, over 90% considered it good or excellent, 59% reported that the curriculum is partially integrated and that the subjects of the curriculum met their proposed objectives either partially (48%) or completely (49%). It was concluded that the course has predominantly trained young, women professionals with activities concentrated in the state of Paraná; the pedagogic project of the course has contributed to fostering a generalist education and that the disciplines have met the objectives of the course; however, from the point of view of the alumni, curricular development is only partially integrated, indicating the need for new formulations with a view to improving the course.

Keywords : Human Resources in Health; Dental Education; Institutional Evaluation.