Introduction to Dental Medicine and Clinical Practice

Code:

MIMD010113

Acronym:

INTMDC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Dental Medicine

Instance: 2025/2026 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Gestão Académica
Course/CS Responsible:	Integrated Master in Dental Medicine

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIMD	89	Official Plan for the Academic Year 2025/2026	1	-	3	45	81

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

To promote the integration of students in the dental medicine environemnt.

To present its different dimensions and possible scenarios of professional performance: clinic and its specialties, research, teaching, industry, administration, politics.

Understand the evolution of medical thinking in general, and dental medicine in particular, from ancient times to contemporary dentistry.

Let  know the creation and the current context of the practice of Dental Medicine in Portugal, in the European Union and in the world.

Prepare for integration in the clinic and make a first approach to the clinical environment.

Motivate for the importance of behavior in a clinical environment, and initiation to clinical interdisciplinary team work.

To raise awareness of the responsibilities of citizenship  and of the communication and relationships between dentist / patient, dentist / society and peers.

Learning outcomes and competences

Knowledge about the history of medicine and dentistry - will allow the students to understand the evolution of medical and dentistry thinking.

The study of the areas and models of dental medicine practice in the portuguese and international contexts, provides knowledge for jobs opportunities.

The contents on the way of being and doing in clinical context,  the contact with dental equipments, as well as the observation of the main areas of clinical activity, prepairs for the integration in the future clinical disciplines and motivates to the importance of the behavior in the clinical environment, to the clinical teamwork .

The approach to ethics, clinical communication and professional and scientific societies themes aims to raise awareness for the humanization and responsibility of health professional activities and relationships and, in particular, for the relevance of communication and responsibility of the dentists towards the society, patients and peers.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

NA

Program

Brief history of medicine and medical thought.Dental medicine - from ancient times to the present.Dental medicine in Portugal, Europe and the World.Professional opportunities for the dentist. Specialties in dental medicine.Professional organizations and national and international scientific societies.Ethical basis and principles in health; the confidentiality of clinical information.Basis of clinical communication skills for health care professionals and patient relationship.Notions of disinfection, sterilization, the problem of contamination and good practices in a clinical environment.First aproach to dental medicine equipments; operation, main elements and accessories; handling and maintenance care.
Introduction to the main areas of clinical practice: surgery and oral medicine, dentistry and endodontics, fixed and removable prostheses, periodontology, occlusion, pediatric dentistry and orthodontics.

Mandatory literature

Christophe Lefébure; História da Medicina e do Pensamento Médico. ISBN: SBN: 2-7089-0468-X

Complementary Bibliography

Antonio Castano Séiquer; Manual de introducción a la odontología. ISBN: 84-609-5515-X

Comments from the literature

Antonio Castano Séiquer; Manual de introducción a la odontología. ISBN: 84-609-5515-X

Christophe Lefébure; Une histoire de l'art dentaire. ISBN: 2-7089-0468-X

Tubiana, Maurice; História da Medicina e do Pensamento Médico, Teorema, 1995. ISBN: 972-695-423-1

As complementary bibliography some documents (provided to the students) will be included, such as :

Portuguese Dental Council (Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas) - Statutes and Code of ethics (Estatuto  e Código Deontológico.

Council of European Dentists; EU Manual of Dental Practice 2015 Edition.

Other publications with subjects considered relevant and in particular with "Guidelines" concerning the exercise of the profession.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical-practical and integrated practices.

Theoretical-practical classes will mainly be based on syllabus' thematic seminars, in an interactive environment.

The practical classes will mostly be held in a pre-clinical and clinical environments, handling materials and equipment and observing clinical acts.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	55,00
Participação presencial	15,00
Trabalho escrito	15,00
Trabalho laboratorial	15,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Frequência das aulas
Trabalho escrito
Trabalho laboratorial
Total:	0,00

Eligibility for exams

Attendance is a prerequisite for the student's success, with attendance at a minimum of 75% of face-to-face contact.

Students with "student worker" status, despite the legal exemption from checking attendance, are not exempt
from the learning provided by the on-site contact hours nor from submitting to the assessment components provided for other students in good time.

Calculation formula of final grade

For approval, ALL components of the assessment must be met, regardless of the student's status.

Normal season
Final mark = (test)55% + (average of work+ attendance)45%

Appeal period
Final grade = (test)55% + (average of assignments+ attendance)45%

For students whose status excludes attendance from the calculation of the grade, the final grade will be calculated as follows, at any time:
Final grade = (test) 0.55% + (average of assignments)% 0.45

Examinations or Special Assignments

NA

Internship work/project

NA

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Access to special assessment, regardless of status or regime, is only possible for the component assigned to tests and implies having completed all the other components of continuous assessment.

Classification improvement

It can only be done for the percentage of the mark awarded for the tests, i.e. 55%.