A glimpse into the curricular format of comprehensive care clinics in Brazilian dental schools

Abstract

Objective. This study aimed to describe some curricular aspects of comprehensive dental care clinics in Brazil. Materials and methods. An email survey was sent to all academic affairs deans of Brazilian undergraduate dental programmes. It contained questions regarding the (1) curricular format and (2) characteristics of comprehensive dental care clinics. Results. Sixty-seven dental schools agreed to participate. It was observed that curricular changes have contributed to modify the structure of these clinics in 88.1% of the schools surveyed. The main alteration was related to an increase in credit hours and offer of this type of care at different levels of the dental curriculum. In 95.5% of the schools, clinical procedures were prioritized according to level of complexity. Inter-disciplinarity (37.3%) and teaching innovation (58.2%) were frequent challenges in the process of change. Progress in combining teaching and clinical services was reported by 50.8% of schools. In 32.8%, clinical procedures were still being performed intra-murally. Conclusions. Changes in the curriculum of Brazilian comprehensive dental care clinics were observed by this survey.