Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery - Dental Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 14 text:

,k MAURICE J. HICKEY, D.M.D., M.D. Associate Dean of the Faculty of Medicine for Dental and Oral Surgery The dental profession was founded to satisfy the need to treat disease of the oral cavity. The growth of the dental profession was, to a large extent, based on the development of techniques that would pro- vide more and longer-lasting treatment of existing dental disease. Undergraduate dental education has, of necessity, placed considerable stress on the treat- ment phase of dentistry. It must be emphasized that as long as we cannot teach prevention and cure of disease, we must teach methods of repairing the dam- age done by disease. For a better understanding of the true meaning of dental education we must look upon the present system as being divided into two phases. In the first phase the teaching effort is concentrated upon the biological sciences, often diluted for dental stu- dents. In the second phase the emphasis is placed upon teaching the techniques required in the treat- ment of dental disease. The end result is a fragmenta- tion of education without the correlation essential to an understanding of dentistry. The dentist upon entering practice assumes a responsibility for the welfare of people. This responsi- bility goes beyond the ability to examine teeth and arrive at a satisfactory treatment plan. This responsi- bility demands that the practitioner have a full under- standing of the practice of oral medicine. To assume this responsibility the dentist must be able to apply his education in the biological sciences to the clinical practice of dentistry. The growth of dentistry to its rightful place in the health science profession has raised a prob- lem that seems to be frequently overlooked by stu- dent, teacher, and the profession. This problem is introduced by the fact that dentistry, a science, has outgrown the curriculum of the undergraduate schools. The attitude that graduation from dental school insures competence to practice is ingrained in the mind of the student. The student leaves school after four years with the feeling that his faculty failed to provide him with the experience in all branches of dentistry required to make him a com- petent clinician. The fact that the school can only provide a basic understanding of a rapidly growing profession seems to escape the student. To assume his responsibility to the profession and to his patients the graduate must seek further education through internship and post-graduate programs. Our curricu- lum today may produce reasonable competence in the fundamentals of clinical dentistry, but it can pro- vide only academic knowledge in the specialty prac- tice of dentistry. To dilute our present curriculum to provide teaching in all areas of clinical dentistry would result in a graduate with a little training in everything and competence in nothing. The student and the school must assume that undergraduate education is only a preliminary step to the practice of dentistry. We must, in the four years available, adapt our teaching to provide the student an education in the biological sciences and a basic training in the principles of clinical practice. The emphasis in this teaching should be aimed to- wards correlating these two phases of dental educa- tion into a single unit designed to provide a solid foundation upon which the true professional man, imbued with the spirit of dentistry as a health serv- ice, may find his own place in the dental profession. Dr. Maurice J. Hickey

Page 13 text:

HARRY LYONS, D.D.S, F.A.C.D. Dean, School of Dentistry, Medical College of Virginia The role of dental education in relation to den- tistry ' s professional responsibilities would appear, at first thought, to be too obvious to warrant elabora- tion. However, the facets of the problem are so numerous and important that it might be well to record certain facts and impressions concerning them. Dental health service requires, first of all, per- sonnel with specialized training in the science and art of dental practice. The education of dentists in this country, as health service practitioners, has now been elevated to that of a university discipline. The education of a dentist may be said to begin upon the admission of a student to the liberal arts college or university where the prospective dental student may obtain the academic requirements for ad- mission to a school of dentistry. Certain so-called predental requirements prevail. These include a rather heavy proportion of the sciences of biology, physics and chemistry. The logic of these require- ments as prerequisites to courses in the dental cur- riculum is sound enough for general acceptance. A question may be raised, however, regarding the em- phasis on these requirements by comparison with that given to the humanities and the social sciences. In these times, dental educators are increasingly aware that dentists must be more than technicians or scientists in a health service field. For example, the opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship weigh as heavily on dentists as on others. As a matter of fact, these opportunities and responsibilities should be recognized and accepted in greater weight by dentists as a superior group. Furthermore, dental health service programs in a democracy such as ours call for intelligent leadership, planning and public relations as well as technical knowledge and skills. It is obvious, therefore, that the education of a den- tist should prepare him for service in the community as a citizen of leadership ability as well as a health servant of fine skill and knowledge. It should be noted that dental schools and dental teachers cannot dismiss this phase of a dentist ' s edu- cation by the simple statement that this is solely the responsibility of the academic college or university. Good citizenship must be taught at every turn and a dental teacher cannot evade this responsibility. He must teach it in theory and practice and by his own precept and example. This is a challenge that the dental teacher and dental education must accept in the full realization that our social responsibilities to our population and the ideals of practice are not met by the attainment of high goals in technical skills and sciences alone. These must be balanced in equal weight by the factors that contribute to good citizen- ship and professional service in their broadest sense. The horizon of dental education must be broad enough to see both sides of the career of a health servant. Those who labor in the vineyard of dental education should cultivate both. Dr. Harry Lyons

Page 15 text:

Faculty