Medical emergencies teaching in dentistry undergraduate courses in Southeastern Brazil

ABSTRACT

Aim: The aim of this study is to offer an overview of the MedicalEmergencies (ME) discipline offer in Dentistry graduations insoutheastern Brazil and to observe the curricular characteristicsof the discipline when present. Methods: This cross-sectionaldocumentary study analyzed the available curricular frameworksin the official websites of Higher Education Institutions (HEI)in southeastern Brazil registered on the Ministry of Education'se-MEC website. The data were analyzed and tabulated using theGraphPad Prism 8.1.2 software, being described by absolute andrelative frequencies. Fisher's exact test was used to compare theproportions between public and private institutions. Results:Of the 176 courses in the Southeast, 144 were included in thestudy for providing access to the curriculum, 19 (13.19%) werepublic and 125 (86.81%) were private. Only 27 (18.75%) of the HEIpresent the discipline of ME, with a greater tendency of supply inprivate HEIs (20.80%) when compared to public HEIs (5.26%),but this difference was not statistically significant (p> 0.05).As a positive aspect, the discipline is predominantly mandatory(88.88%), and the with regard to the teaching methodology ispredominantly theoretical (68.18%). The average workload is50.14 hours (SD=19.54). Conclusions: In only 18.75% of thedental institutions in Southeast Brazil, ME discipline were offered.When offered, the discipline is predominantly theoretical andmandatory. This study raises an important discussion regardingthe need to include specific and mandatory subjects on ME inthe dentistry curricula in Brazil and reflects the need to updateand standardize the national curricular guidelines for dentistry