Introduction:

Social impact and pertinence have been relevant elements at the time of knowing the performance of higher education in a country. In the case of universities of medical sciences, responsible for the comprehensive training of health professionals, the continuous improvement of the quality of academic processes represents a priority for accomplishing the social task.

Objective:

To reflect about the evaluation of the social impact of the dental medicine major of the University of Medical Sciences of Havana.

Authors' stance:

The dental medicine major has a tradition of more than a hundred years. Its quality and excellence have been recognized through external evaluations that have shown strengths in the variable social impact and pertinence. However, it is necessary to evaluate social impact not only from the point of view of the graduates’ and employers’ satisfaction with the offered training, but also in terms of professional performance, teamwork, impact on the oral health of the population, among others.

Conclusions:

The dental medicine major has a high recognition, demonstrated thought the connection among professors and students for the solution of oral health problems. However, it has not been considered to evaluate other impacts associated to the development of graduates in scientific research, their expectations, their motivations and professional upgrading, which definitely contribute to the improvement, relevance and quality of the major.

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