Avaliação de um mestrado profissional de odontologia em saúde pública realizada pelos seus egressos

Abstract

With the exception of some forerunners and occasional works in the United States in the 1930s, the first investigations on graduates only appeared in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, studies by graduates continue to be sporadic, little used and with methodological insufficiencies. The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) included the assessment and monitoring of graduates as important elements in the evaluation of graduate programs. In the final document of the national commission for monitoring the 2011-2020 National Graduate Plan, published in 2018, CAPES prepared a proposal for monitoring the graduates. This can contribute to the training of human resources and their insertion in the labor market, making it possible to map employability, in public and private bodies. The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate the alumni of the Professional Master's Degree in Dentistry in Public Health at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and to create mechanisms for the course's permanent contact with students and alumni, providing their follow-up. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative and analytical study approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (CAAE: 34197420.1.0000.5149). The graduates answered an online questionnaire, previously tested. The aspects evaluated were: professional performance of graduates before and after completion of the course, insertion in the labor market, whether there was any influence of training on the work process of the student-worker; the contribution of the graduate as an agent capable of proposing innovations and generating technological/social/environmental/economic impacts. In this study, 74.5% of graduates stated that their professional posture changed a lot after completing the course, and those living in other cities in Minas Gerais and other states changed 1.46 and 1.55 times more in their professional posture, respectively. , than those who resided in Belo Horizonte. Continuing to work in a private practice after the professional master's degree led professionals to change their professional profile 32% less than those who stopped working. Living in municipalities in the interior of Minas Gerais and in other states may have had a positive impact on the change in the professional attitude of graduates compared to Belo Horizonte, perhaps because this is an important capital on the national scene and has a more robust health system. On the other hand, working in a private practice is a factor that limits the change in professional attitude, given that the course's objectives are aimed at public health. The results of this study showed that research with graduates can make important contributions to the improvement of professional master's programs. One of the challenges to be faced in the health area is meeting the training needs and expectations of professionals linked to the public and private sectors.