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

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The problem for the dental school therefore becomes how to develop graduates who can contribute significantly to the optimum well-being of a changing society. Dentistry has to adapt to new conditions and different demands. This is best accomplished by devising an entirely new curriculum and adhering to a philosophy more in keeping with the changing times. The primary sources from which a curriculum in the health professions should be derived are the needs of society in toto and its members in particular, and the aspirations of the individual or future practitioner. These factors are perhaps epitomized by the two quotations at the beginning of this essay. In the first, Hesse expresses the basic values, importance and uniqueness of every human being that truly makes him worthy o f every consideration. The second describes man ' s own search for his significance, his attempt to find himself among all the many characters he portrays, roles he fulfills, and paths he may tread throughout life. A curriculum in keeping with these tenets should provide for an increased awareness of mankind and have a content fertile with opportunities to achieve a sense of self-fulfillment as an individual in the dental profession. One of the goals of dental education should be to train practi- tioners in unique approaches and ideas with regard to diagnosis and treatment. This cannot be accomplished by instructing all stu- dents identically. The curriculum should be built on individual interests, potentials, capabilities and desires; it ought to make the four years in school relevant to the individual ' s ultimate goals and how he wants to accomplish them. This can only be done by having flexibility in dental curriculums, rather than a fixed, rigid, traditional dental curriculum.

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The new Columbia Dental School philosophy conceives of professional education as a life long continuum in which certain phases are more formalized, structured and concentrated than others. The aim is to produce graduates capable of assuming leadership in the scientific and professional community by academic affiliations either in teaching, research or hospital service ... Two major emphases of the new educational sequence are the prevention of disease and the delivery of dental health care to a larger community than is now able to partake in the services. The Columbia graduate is envisioned to be a leader in his community and in his group practice. He will be an erudite dental scientist and clinical diagnostician, well versed in dental technical concepts, able to perform them competently and integrate the basic sciences with them. 10