Editorials
A Greater Uniformity in the Continuing Education Program of the European Community Dental Practitioner
Marian-Vladimir Constantinescu DDS, PhD, Professor
Editor-in-Chief
Dear Readers,
Man evolved by observing, learning from the environment and other humans, shaping his intellect, and being in a permanent war with anything and anyone who stood in the way of his decision to find his identity. When we decided to be of use to those around us, and to help our fellow humans, in dealing with diverse medical-dental conditions, in particular, the“ oral cavity”, we did it even though perhaps we did not wonder, as the Chinese philosopher Confucius( 551 BC-479 BC) did, about the“ pleasure of studying and then practice what we had learned”. We are, however, in agreement with Aristotle( 384 BC-322 BC), the Greek philosopher, who proclaimed,“ Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work”. We did find out much later from thinkers like Dr. Greene Vardiman Black( 1836-1915) that:“ The professional man has no right to be other than a perennial scholar”. With these ideals in mind, we strived to learn, improve, and practice as much as possible, before being able to offer our patients the best we could, while facing the realities of a“ free labor market”. The General Assembly of the Association for Dental Education in Europe, at its annual meeting held in Cardiff, in September 2004, approved“ the profile and competences for the European Dentist”. The document would assist dental schools in Europe, to further harmonize and improve the quality of their curricula. Also, it established norms and regulations meant to describe the competency of the European dental professional: I Professionalism; II Interpersonal, Communication and Social Skills; III Knowledge Base, Information and Information literacy; IV Clinical Information Gathering; V Diagnosis and Treatment Planning; VI Therapy: Establishing and Maintaining Oral Health; VII Prevention and Health Promotion. The Association for Dental Education in Europe( ADEE), through a group of dental educators, mainly from( ADEE), has been vigorously pursuing the objectives set out in the third phase of the DentEd III project( 2004-2007). The plan was designed to facilitate convergence towards higher standards in dental education and professional training, and outlined to promote, through its working groups, the commonly agreed profile of the European Dentist. ADEE was best placed to implement in the European Union Member States:
• The development of an agreed approach on competences and curriculum structure.
• The development of an agreed approach to the implementation of the European Credit Transfer System( ECTS). In 2008, the American Dental Education Association( ADEA) 1, and the ADEA House of Delegates, established the general dentist as the primary oral health care provider nationally, and defined the areas of competence for the dental professional: 1. Critical Thinking; 2. Professionalism; 3. Communication and Interpersonal Skills; 4. Health Promotion; 5. Practice Management and Informatics; 6. Patient Care: A. Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment Planning; B. Establishment and Maintenance of Oral Health. To arrive at this profile during the learning and evaluation process in dental medicine, it was necessary to introduce first a problem-based learning( PBL) curriculum, and the“ MEDICOL( Medicine and Dentistry Integrated Curriculum Online) system” was chosen as a standard. MEDICOL, a system used at The University of British Columbia, is a tool that provides
84 Stoma Edu J. 2017; 4( 2): 84-85 http:// www. stomaeduj. com