Revisiting the Basic Cycle: Prospects by Undergraduates' Students of a Brazilian Dentistry School

ABSTRACT

Objective: To analyze the perception of undergraduates' students in a Dentistry School about the impact of basic disciplines on their professional development, as well the integration of this knowledge with the professional sphere. Material and Methods: It is a qualitative research study carried out through focus groups comprised of dentistry students close to finishing their degree. The data were analyzed by the thematic content analysis. Results: Four categories derived from the empirical material: "Disassociation of basic disciplines within the professional cycle", "Autonomy or transference of responsibility", "Campus-DOD distancing" and "Humanization of health care from first moments". The narratives showed the difficulties faced in order to effect, indeed, integration between the basic cycle and the curricular components of the vocational cycle. It was also evident the decontextualization of the basic cycle with the perspective of approach with professional practice. In addition, student's protagonist posture and learning how to humanize health care were identified as important factors to be debated and improved in the curriculum from the beginning of the course. Conclusion: The difficulties faced in order to effect an actual integration between the basic disciplines and the professional disciplines bring undesirable consequences upon undergraduate, being fundamental that the construction of new pedagogical projects means an effective integration of the contents to the curriculum design, avoiding any fragmentation between the basic and vocational cycle.