EVALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICAL AND DENTISTRY COURSE STUDENTS ABOUT ORAL CARCINOMA

Resumo

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to verify the knowledge of health professionals being educated in the Medical and Dentistry courses about oral cancer, specifically Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC), in view of this being the most prevalent type of cancer of the head and neck.  Methods: A questionnaire contained objective questions was applied with the aim of evaluating knowledge about some aspects of OSCC. Students in the clinical cycle of the Course in Medicine and Course in Dentistry participated. Both groups were in the 5th and 8th semesters at the Campuses 1 (C1) and 2 (C2). A total of 454 questionnaires were answered and evaluated, distributed as follows: 301 and 153 from the C1 and C2, respectively. Results: The results show that the students from Medicine of the C1 and C2 were observed to be “Regular” (40.67%) and “Insufficient” (44.58%), respectively. For the course in Dentistry of C1 and C2, the prevalent response was “Good” for courses, 52.67% and 46.38%, respectively. Conclusion: The results revealed an inadequate level of knowledge of OSCC. Despite the knowledge is transmitted, changes are necessary to allow the students more time in clinical practice to retain knowledge.

Key words: Human Resource, Oral Cancer, Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Dentistry; Medicine.