This article highlights the importance of developing cross-professional competencies in students of the Faculty of Dentistry. The study involved 375 respondents—236 first-year students and 139 fifth-year students. Since 2021, we have implemented soft skills development activities: the "Leadership Trajectory" project launched in 2021 to develop the personal and team skills of students and faculty. The implementation of mentoring resulted in an increase from 42 active participants in 2021 to 167 in 2023. The "Pioneers of Hygiene" project included over 60 health lessons, 8 meetings with doctors, over 10 Olympiads, and 12 master classes. The courses "Teamwork and Leadership" (since 2021) and "Fundamentals of Project Activities" (since 2023) were introduced. Student project defenses: 11 teams (2023/24), 19 teams (2024/25), over 40 projects in development. Training for 62 faculty members in 2024. One all-Russian and two republican conferences (2023-2024) were held to exchange experiences and improve skills. To determine the trajectory of students' soft skills development and evaluate the results, we used statistics from the "Russia: Country of Opportunities" platform of the BSMU Competence Center. We noted an increase in the development of competencies: "information analysis," "planning," "following rules and procedures," "partnership/collaboration," and "following rules." A decline in the high level of development of competencies: "stress resistance" and "results orientation." Most students have an average level of basic soft skills, and this level of development tends to improve by the fifth year. When assessing additional competencies, comparing first- and fifth-year dental students, we found an increase in the high level of development of all additional competencies. However, the majority of respondents with an average level of soft skills development lose their “communication skills” by the fifth year, which requires special attention from teachers.
Chuykin et al. (Fri,) studied this question.