RESUMEN
Abstract The aim of this study was to develop and achieve consensus on a cariology teaching framework for dental schools in Latin American Spanish-speaking countries. The Delphi process, with a ≥8 0% pre-defined participants' agreement, included three phases and a Coordinating Group. During the Preparation phase three panels of experts were selected and invited to participate: a) Regional academic/professional Dental Associations (Associations-Panel): n = 12; b) Regional Dental Schools (Dental-Schools-Panel): existing dental schools (n = 263) from the 19 Spanish-speaking regional countries; c) International academic/professional associations Peer Experts (Peer-Panel): n = 4. Based on consensus documents from Europe, Colombia, the Caribbean, USA, Chile and Spain, and updated scientific evidence, the Coordinating Group developed a baseline framework proposal of domains, main competencies (MC) and specific competencies (SC). The Consultation-Agreement and Consensus phases included three rounds of questionnaires with a step-wise sharing of the MC updated version of the consensus framework with the Dental-Schools-Panel and including SC with the Associations-Panel. Diverse communication strategies were used ( e.g ., independent google-form questionnaires and workshops). Consensus was reached after an on-site Associations-Panel workshop and secret voting, followed by an online meeting with the Peers-Panel. A total of 127 academic/professional institutions participated (Associations-Panel: 11, 91.6%; Dental-Schools-Panel: 112, 42.6%, all countries; Peers-Panel: 4, 100%). The baseline Cariology teaching framework of 5 domains, 10 MC and 92 SC underwent modifications after agreements for a final consensus framework consisting of 5 domains, 10 MC and 85 SC. A Core Cariology curriculum framework in Spanish for Latin American Dental Schools was successfully developed and agreed upon with regional dental academic and professional institutions.
RESUMEN
Objetivo: Determinar el comportamiento de la orientación empática en alumnos de los niveles o cursos de 1º a 5º año de la carrera de Doctor en Cirugía Dental de la Facultad de Odontología de la Universidad de Panamá. Material y métodos: Observacional-descriptiva. Diseño transversal. La población y muestra la constituyeron estudiantes de la carrera de Odontología de la Universidad de Panamá. Factores analizados: género y año académico (curso). Resultados: Ninguno de los factores fue significativo. Tampoco hubo diferencias significativas en la interacción de los factores "curso" y "género". Sin embargo, la prueba de comparación múltiple de medias permitió observar que existen diferencias entre los cursos. Conclusiones: Existen diferencias de orientación empática entre cursos; en los dos últimos años de la carrera ocurrió mayor disminución de ese nivel; las mujeres tienen niveles mayores de orientación empática en valores absolutos que los hombres; el mayor nivel de orientación empática se detectó en el grupo de tercer año.
Objective: To determine the level of empathic orientation of students of first year through fifth year of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Panama. Materials and methods: Observational descriptive cross-sectional study. Operational definition of the variable was made through the score obtained by the students in the Jefferson’s Physician Empathy Scale. The Universe and sample were the students from 1st to 5th year of the undergraduate program of Doctor in Dental Surgery. Results: None of the factors was more significant than the other. No significant differences were observed in the interaction between Course and Gender. The results reflect that the levels of empathic orientation remain the same between the courses and genders. However, the multiple comparisons test of means used, allowed us to detect that there are, in fact, differences between the courses. Conclusions: There are differences in empathic orientation between courses. In the last two years of the undergraduate studies, such orientation decreased. Women have higher levels of empathic orientation in absolute terms; the highest level of empathic orientation was detected in the 3rd year group.