Introduction.

The practice of dentistry requires the proper development of communication skills, which must be guaranteed during undergraduate studies. This is an institutional challenge, because the schools have to put the academic mechanisms to evaluate the level of development of these skills.

Methods.

The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is developing a comprehensive collaborative plan that includes four phases: a) collection and socialization of information on the current situation of the development of communication skills; b) design of a training plan to improve these skills, c) training plan implementation and results assessment, and d) gathering evidence of the process and dissemination of the results.

Results.

After the detection of strengths and weaknesses in communication, we defined a total of 40 communication skills, structured in five blocks (oral communication with patients/family members; oral communication with other professionals; written communication with patients/family members; written communication with other health professionals, and dentist-patient communication techniques) and three levels of performance (identifying information, performance with high supervision, autonomous with moderate supervision). For its development, 19 training and evaluation activities were designed, currently being implemented.

Conclusion.

The plan is being developed successfully and the evidence of the process, collected in a portfolio, will be used to monitor the degree.

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