Students' perception of the proficiency exam – Dentistry

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of undergraduate dentistry students in the city of Rio de Janeiro regarding the current job market and the Proficiency Exam of two public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational, descriptive, exploratory, qualitative and quantitative study, based on a semi-structured online questionnaire with 20 questions about the current job market, professional training and the Proficiency Exam. The target audience consisted of undergraduate students, enrolled from the 4th to the 8th semester at two public universities in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The data were tabulated and analyzed descriptively using SPSS. Results: The total number of participants in the study sample was 148 students. Among the respondents,

78 were students from HEI 1 and 70 from HEI 2. The average age of the study population was 24.32 years old (SD ± 0.82) and 76.20% were female. The choice of course was based in 52.70% due to the reputation of the HEI in terms of teaching quality, 45.27% due to the fact that it was free, and 2.03% due to proximity to their residence and ease of access. Most respondents did not know how many Dentistry courses there are in Brazil (84.94%) or how many dentists practice the profession in the country (69.31%). Almost all of the sample (83.10%) acknowledge that the quality of dentists trained in Brazil is excellent or very good. Regarding the adoption of a proficiency exam, 97.03% agree with its importance and would take the exam; and 45.86% believe that the Regional Dental Council (CRO) should make the proficiency exam mandatory. Conclusion: The proficiency exam was perceived positively, being regarded as a seal of professional quality. Most of the participants suggested that its implementation should be optional.