A curriculum by skills should prepare the student for a critical and reflective know-how, so that he can feel as an active part of his social context, mobilizing resources to solve problems that appear in the professional exercise. It was investigated the difficulties faced by dentists from the public service of Rio Grande do Norte State about the public health in order to establish a profile of skills for the new vocational curriculum. Data were collected through a questionnaire with a test of free association of words and an interview analyzed by EVOC 2000 and Thematic Content Analysis. The main difficulties found were: working in teams, lack of commitment of managers with the continuity of the health actions, unprepared professionals to face the collective problems, and the precariousness of work. Considering the profile of the health professional suggested by the new curriculum guidelines, the results signal for a need for changes in the curriculum, to graduate professionals compatible with the requirements of the actual labour market, which includes knowledge, know-how and know-be, with a critic view. Thus, as soon as the courses of Dentistry adhere the changes in education, more likely the new graduated will be able from the view of competencies and skills to deal with possible difficulties.
Competency-based education; Skills; Curricular guidelines
