Perceptions of stomatherapy graduates regarding in-person and remote education during COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: to identify and analyze the perceptions of stomatherapy graduates regarding the advantages and disadvantages of in-person and emergency remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: this qualitative, descriptive study was conducted at a public university in Rio de Janeiro with 28 graduates from the program. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews, and the IRaMuTeQ® software was used for data processing, specifically for lexical analysis.

Results: the advantages of in-person education include the opportunity to clarify doubts, a close relationship between professors and students, and content enrichment through debate. The advantages of remote education include flexibility in location and schedule, reduced expenses, and less time spent in traffic congestion. Regarding the disadvantages of remote education, issues related to access to technology and a lack of skills in handling it emerged.

Conclusions: the labor market, driven by neoliberal principles, strongly impacts the professional qualification process, presenting challenges and causing intense distress and psychophysical overload in both in-person and remote education.