What can be done to correct deficiencies in the undergraduate course?
Teachers should cease to be mere dispensers of facts, being rather guides to sources of information. They should be ruthless in discarding from the undergraduate course all irrelevant material and material which duplicates information or technical instruction already provided in other courses. Emphasis must be transferred from the individual tooth or tissue to the total care of the patient and this may necessitate much greater cooperation and integration between courses and departments. Time can be saved by generous provision of technical and chairside assistance. Motivation of the student is best achieved by the earliest possible introduction to clinical practice and the progressive delegation to him of clinical responsibility as his skills and knowledge develop. Self instructional material must be freely available but care must be taken to preserve and develop the capacity for communication, both oral and written, by the student to his patients and his community. Transition from undergraduate to practitioner can be made easier by conducting some part of the clinical course in institutions outside the dental school or by establishing modified practices conducted by students so far as the legal provisions of each country allow.
D003479:Curriculum; D004497:Education, Dental; D006113:United Kingdom