Impactos da pandemia do COVID 19 no ensino odontológico: estudo com alunos do Curso de Odontologia da UFCG.

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental education in the view of students in the Dentistry course at UFCG. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, an online questionnaire (Google Forms®) was sent by email, to all students enrolled between the months of November and December 2020, seeking to assess the sociodemographic and academic profile, the condition of physical and mental health, and the educational experience of remote education. Data were recorded in the SPSS® program (version 23.0) and analyzed using descriptive statistics and univariate and bivariate inference. Results: 163 students participated in the study, most of them attending the 1st to the 6th period, women between 21-24 years of age. As a reflection of social isolation, there was a low prevalence of COVID-19 among students (10.4%), but the majority reported that isolation affected their mental health a lot / too much, and that fear of acquiring the disease was strongly present among students. Almost all students performed academic activities related to the course in the period, but those who were in the 4th / 5th year classified remote education as unfeasible for the subjects of the Dentistry course (p <0.05). More than 90% of students showed a negative self-perception of the pandemic in their professional training. Conclusion: The impact that the pandemic has been having on students' lives was notorious. The negative effects generated by the academic delay and the psychological problems resulting from this atypical and challenging moment can be reflected in their entire lives.