«Soft skills» in the training of dentists: awareness, needs and arguments in favour of integration into the educational process

Background. The development of «soft skills» in medical students, particularly dentists, is a key prerequisite for professional and ethical competence. Despite growing interest in this topic, the issue of effective pedagogical influence on the development of such skills in first-year students remains understudied. Purpose to evaluate the impact of the course «Transversal Skills in the Practice of a Dentist» on the development of «soft skills» and related competencies in first-year dental students and to justify the feasibility of integrating «soft skills» into the educational process at the early stages of professional training. Materials and Methods. 26 students who completed the course during the semester participated in the study. The assessment was carried out in five areas: communication, teamwork, emotional self-regulation, time management, and leadership. The selfassessment method (questionnaires before and after the course) and mathematical statistics methods were used to process the results. Results. After completing the course, a statistically significant increase was recorded in all five areas (p < 0.05). The most significant changes were observed in the areas of communication (+1.2 points) and emotional self-regulation (+1.1 points). The data obtained are consistent with current research on the role of «soft skills» in medical education and confirm the effectiveness of the proposed teaching methods. Conclusions. The course «Transversal Skills» has a positive impact on the development of «soft skills» in dental students and can be recommended for implementation in educational programs at the early stages of professional training.