The influence of the National Curriculum Guidelines in the training of professors in the area of dentistry

Abstract

Objective: To verify how the National Curriculum Guidelines for the undergraduate course in Dentistry (DCNO) have influenced the training of professors of dentistry courses. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative, and qualitative study. The research was carried out in the departments of the graduation course in Dentistry of three public universities in the state of Minas Gerais. For data production, 113 lattes curricula were analyzed, in addition to 23 semi-structured interviews. For the statistical analysis of the quantitative data, the Shapiro-Wilk, Chi-Square, and Mann-Whitnney tests were used. Qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis technique proposed by Bardin. Subsequently, these data were analyzed using the triangulation method proposed by Minayo. Results: Regarding degrees, 70.8% of professors are doctors, 25.7% are masters and 3.5% are specialists. In 81.4% of the curricula, there was no mention of pedagogical training, and in only 2.3% there was a record of activity in DCNO. According to the teachers' reports, the guidelines brought about a change in the professional profile. Conclusion: Teachers are trained with postgraduate degrees, however, the curricula show a deficiency in pedagogical didactic training. The analysis of the interviews showed that the professors adopted the guidelines as a guiding and modifying document in their teaching practice.