Global Congress on Dental Education III

 

From 6 – 8 September 2007, Dublin Castle Ireland served as the global knowledge centre in dental education. 330 delegates from 66 countries from all continents came together for the Global Congress on Dental Education III. The Global Congress was held under the joint auspices of

 

- The International Federation of Dental Educators and Associations (IFDEA)

- DentEd III (the European Union Thematic Network on Dental Education)

- The American Dental Education Association (ADEA)

- The Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE)

 

President of Ireland Mary McAleese addressed delegates on Saturday 8th September when she officially launched the Global Network for Dental Education, a web-based resource designed by the International Federation of Dental Educators and Associations (IFDEA) to help share knowledge and facilitate a better understanding of issues of diversity and inequality in oral health care and education throughout the global dental education community.

 

Keynote addresses were delivered by

 

Dr. Mary Robinson, Chancellor, University of Dublin Trinity College; Chairperson, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative; President of Ireland (1990-1997); UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). “Health as a Human Right: Implications for the Dental Profession”

 

Sir Iain Chalmers, Editor, James Lind Library Oxford; Founder member of the Cochrane Collaboration. "Human rights and professional responsibilities in health care and education".

 

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University, New York Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. “The end of Poverty?”

 

Dr. David Wong, Associate Dean for Research University of California, Los Angeles, Director, Dental Research Institute, UCLA, Chair, Division of Oral Medicine & Biology, UCLA. “Salivary Diagnostics: Impact on Global Oral Health”

 

Working groups addressed the following topics:

 

1. Profile of a dentist in the oral health care team in countries with established economies.

2. Profile of a dentist in the oral health care team in countries with emerging economies.

3. Adapting the curriculum to changes in information technology, students’ needs and learning styles

4. Adapting to changes in the biomedical sciences and biotechnology.

5. Implementing evidence based dentistry and research in the curriculum.

6. Inequalities in access to education and health care.

7. Quality assurance, benchmarking, testing and assessment and mutual transcontinental recognition of qualifications.

8. Staff recruitment, development and global mobility.

9. The academic environment: the students’ perspective.

10. Leadership and governance in dental education – new societal challenges.

11. Exploring partnerships with business, government and entrepreneurial institutions.

12. Curriculum Structure including horizontal and vertical integration.

14. Balancing the role of the dental school in teaching, research and patient care including care for underserved areas.

15. A Global Network in Dental Education - a new vision for IFDEA

 

A special issue of the European Journal for Dental Education and ADEA’s Journal of Dental Education will carry a full report of the Working Group findings in addition to the keynote addresses. In the meantime the IFDEA network is being constructed based on centres throughout the world as well as an interactive website. The outcomes exceeded all expectations and generated a feel-good factor that will serve to energise the growth and development of a unique organisation dedicated to sharing intellectual resources and expertise which will help converge towards higher standards and, in particular, provide support for those in the less well-resourced regions in the world. IFDEA has been truly invigorated.

 

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Please use the link below to return to the Global Congress site