Dental education needs revamp
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Curriculum has remained unchanged for the last 50 years
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EXPERTSPEAK: C. Bhasker Rao, Principal, SDM College of Dental Sciences, Dharwad
IT IS high time dental education is revamped to meet the changing needs of society and meet the challenges of globalisation, according to C. Bhasker Rao, who has for two terms served as Vice-President of the Dental Council of India and has again been nominated to the post.
At 62, Dr. Bhasker Rao is one of the seniormost teachers with around three decades of experience in the field. He has been involved in research, planning and administration of dental courses and dental colleges in the country. He has been heading the SDM College of Dental Sciences, one of the two colleges in the country which have received the NAAC accreditation, for the past one-and-a-half decades.
Dr. Bhasker Rao has been associated with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow; Arab Medical University, Benghazi, Libya; the University Grants Commission; Sri Ramachandra Deemed University, Chennai; and B.P. Koirala Institute of Medical Sciences, Nepal. Nearer home, he has been closely associated with the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, heading the research committee.
Training centre
Thanks to the efforts made by him, the SDM College of Dental Sciences has been permitted to conduct the Fellowship examinations of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow for the past one decade along with Part A FRCS examination in General Surgery and Ophthalmology. It has been recognised as a training centre for graduates appearing for MFDS examination too.
Dr. Rao says dental education curriculum has remained more or less unchanged for the past 50 years. "It only means that the present day students are reading what I had read in my college, and my teachers had read during their student days.''
A long wait
The Dental Council, he says, has revised the curriculum for BDS and submitted it to the Union Ministry of Health and has been waiting for it to be notified for the past three years, before it could be adopted by the dental colleges all over the country.
The revised curriculum provides for increasing the duration of the course from 4+1 year to 4 1/2 + 1 years. This is because of the introduction of new subjects such as Aesthetic Dentistry, Forensic Dentistry and Implantology, and Human Behaviour.
Barring Kerala, where an amendment to the university act has been made to usher in the 4 1/2 +1 year pattern, all are following the existing pattern, including Karnataka.
In India, Dr. Rao says, dental education has moved away from the Government to the private sector, with around 155 of the 190 colleges in the country coming under the private sector. A subtle gender change is also taking place, with more and more girls preferring dental education.
And the image of the dentist as a man of Chinese origin, and operating from a small dingy place, has changed. Today, dental clinics have good interior decoration and more than one specialist operate under a single roof, says Dr. Rao.
"It was because of this that the Dental Council of India sought a revised curriculum. But I am distressed over the delay in giving effect to it. We are losing precious time with each year's delay." Barring the BDS and MDS courses, "we have not been able to diversify and introduce newer courses at the postgraduate and diploma levels," Dr. Rao says.
For example, there was need for a course in cosmetic dentistry, which was in demand among the glamour crowd. "Those who compete in international beauty competitions undergo the treatment abroad but we cannot offer it in India." Dr. Rao wants a moratorium on the opening of dental colleges all over the country except in the North-East. With over 13,000 students joining the BDS courses all over the country and with 10 per cent of them making it to the MDS, the number of qualified dentists compared to the population is quite favourable. Of the 190 dental colleges in the country, Karnataka has the highest concentration of 46.
Staff shortage
One of the problems facing dental colleges has been the paucity of qualified teaching staff, with several positions vacant in the colleges. Some colleges have been resorting to the practice of asking the visiting faculty to handle classes for limited hours.
While the system could be adhered to, it should be ensured that the visiting faculty is available to guide the students throughout the year instead of the long gap noticed at present.
Dr. Rao feels that the time has come to take a closer look at the professional competence of dental surgeons. The Continuing Medical Education programme must be made more meaningful, relevant and compulsory. Registration should be made renewable every five years and given only after the candidate has undergone periodical reorientation and updating of knowledge.
Dr. Rao says the health universities should devise the curriculum keeping in mind the need to face the challenges of globalisation. They should be innovative in their approach to education and research.
There was for example, the need for introducing the "project mode'' in the dental curriculum to enable the undergraduate students to take up the project works of relevance to the community.
M. Madan Mohan
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