| Summary: | ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the relationship between student participation in associations and the way they perceive their quality of life. Methods: a study of one hundred and sixty students of Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) Dentistry course belonging to the first, fifth, eighth and tenth semesters in Florianopolis, SC, Brazil. The theoretical basis is the Public Health approach, that, under the wider concept of health, considers associations as health promoters. A sociodemographic questionnaire, a questionnaire on associativism and the WHOQOL-Bref were used for data collection. Results: the results indicate that the participation of Dentistry students in associations improves self-evaluation of quality of life, satisfaction in personal relationships and reduces the frequency of negative feelings. Conclusion: students who participate in voluntary associations are associated with a better quality of life, promoting a more adequate professional formation. In this way, the participation of students in associations should be stimulated by the University. This perspective of analysis values social aspects in the perspective of health and can be a pioneering study in a field where there is still much to be studied, and can bring substantial contributions to the field of collective health and health as a whole.
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