Contribuição da pesquisa-ação educacional (pesquisa-ensino) para a inserção do atendimento domiciliar na matriz curricular em odontologia

Abstract

Introduction: Education in general and higher education must be in line with the reality experienced by the population. However, an analysis of Dentistry courses shows that there are gaps in curriculum development, especially in relation to professional training for the care of patients with special needs. Objective: The objective of this research is to contribute to the insertion of home care in the curriculum of dentistry courses. Method: This is an educational research-action with undergraduate students from the 10th period of the dentistry course in a supervised internship at a health unit in a municipality in the Brazilian Northeast. They were initially submitted to a semi-structured interview to identify the level of understanding of home dentistry. Then they participated in conversation circles with the internship team for guidance about home dentistry in patients with disabilities. At the end of the internship, the participants were submitted to a second semi-structured interview to assess the intervention performed. For analysis of the interviews, the Content Analysis technique was adopted. Results: The results demonstrate the possibility of inserting home care in the curricular matrix of Dentistry courses and the contribution of the internship to the future professional performance of the dental surgeon.