Current Portrait of Multiprofessional Residency Programs in Oncology for Dentist in Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Multiprofessional Residency programs represent a fundamental strategy to increase the capacity of cancer management. Objective: To analyze the current portrait of Multiprofessional Residency programs in oncology for dental surgeons in Brazil, as well as the number of professionals graduating from these courses, based on data reported by the Ministry of Education (MEC). Method: Quantitative, exploratory study. The first phase consisted in requesting to the Brazilian MEC Technical Team of Multiprofessional Residency to list all the Multiprofessional Residency Programs in Oncology that included the professional category of dentistry. Additionally, a manual search was performed. In the second phase, a contact was made by e-mail and a search in the available Internet public notices of the unanswered cases was conducted. The data searched and analyzed descriptively consisted in the existence of an active program, inclusion of the professional dentistry category, number of vacancies offered and graduates for each year between 2010 and 2020. Results: Thirteen Multiprofessional Residency programs in oncology for dental surgeons were identified, distributed in 12 centers, located in ten cities in eigtht Brazilian states, mainly in the Southeast region. Six programs were implemented in 2010, six in 2016 and one in 2020. In the Brazilian scenario, between 2010 and 2020, a total of 216 vacancies were offered and just over 114 professionals specialized in this area completed the academic formation. Conclusion: It is emphasized the necessity to increase the quantity of centers, programs and vacancies for Multiprofessional Residencies in Oncology for dental surgeons in Brazil, as well as the recognition of oncology as a dental specialty.