Comparison of traditional six-year and new four-year dental curricula in South Korea.
This study aimed to compare the dental curriculum of the traditional six-year system with that of the new four-year (graduate-entry) system in South Korea. There are 11 dental schools in South Korea: six are public and five are private. Eight offer the new four-year program and the other three offer the traditional six-year program. Descriptive analyses were conducted using bibliographic data and local information along with statistical analyses such as chi-square tests. In the six-year programs, clinical dentistry subjects were taught almost equally in practical and didactic courses, while the basic science courses were taught more often as practical courses (P < 0.0001). In the four-year programs, both the basic science and clinical dentistry subjects were taught didactically more often; while more dentistry subjects were taught than basic sciences (P = 0.004). The four-year program model in South Korea is more focused on dentistry than on basic science, while both basic and clinical dentistry subjects were equally taught in the six-year program.
Department of Endodontics, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas, TX 75246, USA. tkomabayashi@bcd.tamhsc.edu
Takashi
T
Komabayashi
Chul
C
Ahn
Kang-Ju
KJ
Kim
Hyo-Won
HW
Oh
D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education; D001671:Biochemistry / Q000193:education; D003479:Curriculum; D004497:Education, Dental; D004515:Education, Predental; D004522:Educational Status; D005823:Genetics / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008829:Microbiology / Q000193:education; D010339:Pathology, Oral / Q000193:education; D010600:Pharmacology / Q000193:education; D010827:Physiology / Q000193:education; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D012575:Schools, Dental / Q000145:classification; D012586:Science / Q000193:education; D013335:Students, Dental; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors