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

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Dean Hickey, faculty and students listen as Paul Duboff points out significant case findings at a bi-monthly clinical pathological conference. dents ever realize their own responsibility for their education? How many students ever realize that the biological sciences are as fundamental to their professional education as their clinical courses? With the preconceived idea of dentistry carried by the entering student it is little wonder that the science courses are all too often merely hurdles that, if successfully crossed, lead to clinical dentistry. If this concept persists, it represents the failure on the part of the school to create in the student the full understanding of the depth of his profession. It is a faculty responsibility to guide the thinking of the entering student so that he may come to understand his own responsibility. The student should not be expected to blindly accept the statement that his curriculum is carefully planned for his needs. On the other hand, the student should be guided in his education and he should not expect to be led by the hand. The very fact that the volume of knowledge far exceeds the available time in a four year curriculum places directly upon the student the responsibility of dental practice. The student who expects the parts of his curriculum to fit like a jigsaw puzzle and spell out the word dentistry is lacking in intellectual curiosity. The student who fails to look upon each new course as an intellectual experience designed to further his professional education is cheating himself and his profession. He is denying himself the self-satisfaction that comes from self-improvement. responsibilities m dental education

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not accepted the basic fact that dentistry, as a health profession, has passed beyond the concept upon which it was founded. The practice of dentistry today can no longer be looked upon as the artificial re- storation of diseased and missing teeth. The practice of dentistry today, and the future of the dental profession, must be based upon a concept that the treatment of disease, re- gardless of its anatomical location or the methods used, represents in the strictest sense of the word the practice of medicine. Dentistry is the practice of Medicine as related to the oral cavity. This conception of dentistry does not assume that dental students should first be physicians or that their teaching should be geared to the medi- cal curriculum. The dental student has, upon entering school, already elected his area of specialty practice and his educational pro- gram should be formulated upon this fact. The planning of a dental school curriculum should consider the necessity for education in the biological sciences and training in the clinical practice of dentistry. The two should be considered as integral parts of a total program and not as unrelated areas of teaching. The teaching of the biological sciences and clinical teaching should be a united effort towards the students ' edu- cation and not a competitive force for the students ' attention. Where does the dental student enter this concept of dental education? He is, of course, the focal point. Yet how many students ever realize their own responsi- bility for their education? How many stu- Doctor Uccellani instructs a sophomore on details of pack- ing a full denture case. vracticc of oral mcdianc

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Often students will be critical of their clinical teaching because it fails to give them a complete sense of security when they look upon all the areas of clinical practice. Again, the conception that graduation from dental school insures com- petence in clinical practice is a delusion. The clinical teaching in the undergradute years can only hope to provide a foundation upon which experience can bring forth competence. The idea that specialization in a profession can be achieved in undergraduate school is held only by dentistry. The clinical practice of dentistry has changed through the years. More is expected of the practitioner and yet the available hours for clini- cal teaching in the undergraduate schools have de- creased. Unless the student and the school accept the fact that clinical teaching must be directed towards fundamentals rather than detail, clini- cal teaching will become a reflection of faculty competition for student time. The schools, stu- dents and the profession must come to the real- ization that dental education does not start and end with a four year course in a university dental school. Dental education starts in the university school and it ends only when the individual practitioner decides that there is nothing more for him to learn. This decision can reasonably be made only at the conclusion of a full professional life. It is the responsibility of the schools to plan the beginning of this long range program. It is the responsibility of the schools and the pro- fession to provide ways and means to continue this education and it is the responsibility of the undergraduate student to realize that the accumu- lation of knowledge will not stop and wait for him to catch up. Complacency, intellectual lazi- ness and short cuts have no place in genuine professional education. Dr. Maurice J. Hickey, d.m.d., m.d. Prosthetic clinic session finds seniors engrossed in various phases of oral rehabilitation. Dr. Hunt demonstrates the fundamentals of cavity preparation.