Perfil sociodemográfico e interesses profissionais de graduandos de Odontologia do Centro Universitário de Patos

This study aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic profiles of undergraduate dentistry students at the Patos University Center (UNIFIP), and to learn their interests and expectations in relation to training and professional practice. The study included 414 students enrolled in the second semester of 2017. A questionnaire containing objective and subjective questions, and statistical tests were used to associate sociodemographic variables with the school shift attended. The undergraduates were mostly female (68.1%), aged up to 29 years (93%) and single (84.1%). The main reason given for choosing the course was vocation (47.8%). The areas of greatest interest were surgery and traumatology (28.8%), followed by orthodontics (19.8%). Comparative analysis revealed a predominance of male students (p = 0.041) attending the night school shift, aged 30 or over (p = 0.001), married or divorced (p <0.003), who lived with spouses and/or children (p <0.001), with income and contributing to the support of their families (p <0.001), working more than 20 hours per week (p <0.001), exclusively attending public high schools (p = 0.001) and residing in other municipalities (p <0.001). For the short term, 70% of respondents intended to attend postgraduate courses and work within the Family Health Strategy (FHS) (44%). For the medium and long term, 68.6% intended to work in a private clinic, presenting less interest in working with the FHS (19.3%). In conclusion, significant differences were revealed in the profiles of day and night dentistry course students at the Patos University Center.