College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2010 May;14(2):106-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2009.00599.x.
Different educational and professional developments within the dental field create different sets of missions, norms, and practices regarding dental diseases and their appropriate treatment. This review has addressed differences in dental education and professional development between mainland China and North America. Many factors influence the choice of model and it is very difficult to predict which model will become predominant. However, there is growing sentiment that the independent faculty model in North America is logical and superior to the model, which 'integrates' dental and medical education in mainland China. Many North America dental schools place a high priority on preclinical and clinical training in the curriculum in order to expose students to patient oral health needs and systemic dental problems much earlier than in mainland China. North America dental schools promote and embrace students self-learning skills by the use of PBL, CRL, and TRAD education methodologies and new e-based technologies and approaches whereby students learn rather than are taught. In mainland China, the traditional lecture-based format is still employed in the majority of dental schools; however, strategies to enhance students self-learning skills is increasingly utilised in most well-known Chinese dental schools. The Chinese dental education model, which treats dentistry as a sub-specialty of medicine, has brought about fundamental differences, with the dentist functioning essentially as a stomatologist. For example, China has built up a large oral and maxillofacial surgery society, and craniofacial surgery is performed to a much broader extent by Chinese dentists than by most North American counterparts. In North America, dentists engage in full-time work, attend continuing training/education programmes, belong to an association, gain legal status, and construct a code of ethics emphasising the quality of care delivered to the public. Currently, continuing dental education in North America is available through a variety of venues involving licensing authorities, universities and private programmes. The concept of professional development in mainland China is relatively new and is still considered primarily in the context of promotion or achieving a higher professional title. Mandatory continuing dental professional education requirements do not guarantee the competence of members of the profession. Today, the Chinese government and society place increasing emphasis upon the accountability of self-regulating professions. Rather than attempting to summarise the current scope of dental education and professional development between mainland China and North America, this paper hopes to enhance mutual understanding, and promote greater academic exchanges in dental education.
不同的教育和职业发展在口腔医学领域创造了不同的使命、规范和实践，涉及口腔疾病及其适当的治疗。本综述探讨了中国大陆和北美的口腔医学教育和专业发展的差异。许多因素影响模型的选择，很难预测哪种模式将占主导地位。然而，越来越多的人认为北美的独立教师模式在逻辑上优于中国大陆将口腔医学和医学教育“整合”的模式。许多北美的牙科学校在课程中高度重视临床前和临床培训，以便让学生更早地接触到患者的口腔健康需求和系统性牙科问题，这比中国大陆早很多。北美的牙科学校通过使用 PBL、CRL 和 TRAD 教育方法以及新的基于电子的技术和方法来促进和培养学生的自主学习技能，让学生学习而不是被教导。在中国大陆，大多数牙科学校仍然采用传统的以讲座为基础的教学模式；然而，越来越多的知名中国牙科学校正在利用增强学生自主学习技能的策略。中国大陆的口腔医学教育模式将口腔医学视为医学的一个分支，这带来了根本性的差异，牙医的主要作用是口腔医生。例如，中国建立了一个庞大的口腔颌面外科学会，口腔颌面外科手术在中国的牙医中比在大多数北美的同行中进行得更为广泛。在北美，牙医从事全职工作，参加继续教育/培训计划，加入协会，获得法律地位，并制定强调向公众提供护理质量的道德准则。目前，北美的继续教育可以通过各种途径获得，包括许可当局、大学和私人计划。中国大陆的专业发展概念相对较新，目前仍主要被视为晋升或获得更高专业头衔的背景。强制性的继续教育专业要求并不能保证专业人员的能力。如今，中国政府和社会越来越重视自我监管行业的问责制。本文并不试图总结中国大陆和北美的口腔医学教育和专业发展的当前范围，而是希望增进相互理解，促进口腔医学教育的更多学术交流。
