Meanings assigned to clinical activities by graduates in Dentistry

• Grant number: 20/14076-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2021
• End date: February 28, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Social and Preventive Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Luciane Miranda Guerra
• Grantee: Carolina dos Santos Furian
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba (FOP). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Between 2015 and 2019 there was an 87% increase in the number of dental schools in Brazil. The course curriculum includes theoretical classes, pre-clinical and clinical practices, which demand from the student manual, intellectual and relational skills. In addition to extremely precise manual skills, treatment planning management, students must adapt to the stressors stimuli characteristic of the university environment. In this context, the Dentistry course is considered as one of the most challenging, demanding and stressful fields of study. It is relevant, therefore, to understand the perception and meanings that the student has about his relationship with clinical practice, since reflection on challenges and potentials existing in this relationship can provide the possibility of qualifying teaching and learning, as well as improving in the quality of life of the student. Objective: To understand the meanings attributed to clinical activities by undergraduate dentistry students at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Participants and Method: clinical-qualitative design. It is a method brought up and refined from the Human Sciences. The sample will be constructed intentionally and sequentially, by students in the fifth year of the undergraduate dentistry course at FOP / UNICAMP who are willing to participate in the research.The sample will be closed by saturation. It should be noted that the choice of subjects was based on the observation that this public has already had the experience of clinical care, being in the transition stage between the completion of graduation and entering the job market. The semi-directed interview technique with open and in-depth questions will be applied. The interview material will be fully transcribed and treated by Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis, a humanistic investigative approach, developed for clinical settings. The operationalization in the field is preceded by a phase of acculturation, in order to promote the insertion of the researcher in the chosen care setting. The treatment of the data will be done by Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis, with emerging categories. Expected results: It is expected, when understanding the meanings attributed by students to dental clinical practice, to provide subsidies to contribute to future curricular changes, as well as to better understand the students' psychodynamic demands, which are related to their clinical performance, helping them to cope. with the difficulties inherent to activities in this environment.