Professional projects in second year students of Odontology undergraduate studies. Matanzas

Abstract

Introduction: the study of professional projects in youth is, nowadays, a theme of scientific interest. Future projects associated to profession are included in the life project as explicit objectives, rationally structured and having a high-regulating role of the youngsters´ activity.
Objective:   to characterize professional projects declared by second year students of the Odontology undergraduate studies.
Materials and Methods: a descriptive study was carried out with the method of content analysis, and closed techniques with percentage analyses.  Second-year students and teachers of Odontology undergraduate studies of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Matanzas, school year 2012-2013, formed the sample.
Results: in the development of future projects, it was identified that their content reveals the students aspiration of graduating and achieving their professional realization; they are mainly focused on to the personal sphere. The strategies admitted by students to develop the project are partially structured in most of them. Generally, the temporality of the professional projects is defined in a medium term and they do not foresee obstacles in their consecution.
Conclusions: the structure of the professional projects in youth is an expression of the complex motivations´ development and, consequently, of the youngster´s personality, included in the life project with a behavior leading and regulating character.