Mann J, Vered Y
Dept. of Community Dentistry, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem.
Refuat Hapeh Vehashinayim (1993). 2003 Apr;20(2):27-34, 79.
Dental manpower planning is constantly in discussion throughout the world. Current data indicates a transition from oversupply reports 10 to 20 years ago to a present undersupply of dentists with a forecast for further shortage in the near future. The dental profession in Israel has gone through deep and extreme changes since the late 80'. Dentists are now at the "bottom of the barrel" and many abandoned the profession after long and demanding years of education. The future of the academic dental institutions is also unclear. In spite of the current unrealistic present, we are witnessing some processes that might change the status of the dental profession in Israel in the near future. Among these are the changing roll of female dentists in the profession, increasing age of practicing dentists, obligatory state licensing exams, less immigration of dentists and the natural growth of the population. Together with the expected increase of demand for dental care, a decrease in the number of dentists in Israel will result in a balanced dental manpower in 2011. Therefore, the necessity of establishing a third dental school in Israel was brought to discussion. Dental schools are responsible not only for students qualification as caregivers, but also for enrichment of practicing dentists with updated data, and qualifying specialist dentists in the various fields of the profession. At the present, there is no justification for establishing a third dental school in Israel. Nevertheless, it is obligatory to maintain and strengthen the two existing dental schools in spite of the needed high costs. Only in this way the profession will continue to enjoy a nation high quality professional and academic dental manpower. The continuous qualification of specialists will be maintained and an open "path" will be available for future manpower enlargement. Hastiness and rashness, which ended in national shortage of dentists in other countries, should be avoided in Israel.
牙科人力规划在全球范围内一直是讨论的热点。当前数据显示，情况已从10到20年前的牙医供应过剩转变为目前的供应不足，且预计在不久的将来短缺情况还会加剧。自80年代末以来，以色列的牙科行业经历了深刻而剧烈的变化。如今牙医处于“最底层”，许多人在经历了漫长且要求严苛的教育后放弃了这个职业。学术性牙科机构的未来也不明朗。尽管当前现状不切实际，但我们仍见证着一些可能在不久的将来改变以色列牙科行业地位的进程。其中包括女牙医在该行业中角色的转变、执业牙医年龄的增长、强制性的国家执照考试、牙医移民减少以及人口的自然增长。随着对牙科护理需求的预期增加，以色列牙医数量的减少将在2011年实现牙科人力的平衡。因此，在以色列建立第三所牙科学院的必要性被提上了讨论日程。牙科学院不仅负责使学生具备护理人员的资质，还负责用最新数据充实执业牙医，并使该行业各个领域的专科牙医获得资质认证。目前，在以色列没有理由建立第三所牙科学院。然而，尽管成本高昂，维持和加强现有的两所牙科学院仍是必要的。只有这样，该行业才能继续拥有高素质的专业和学术牙科人力。专科医生的持续资质认证将得以维持，未来人力扩充的“通道”也将畅通。以色列应避免在其他国家出现过的因仓促行事而导致全国牙医短缺的情况。
