[Reform efforts in dentistry - national and international approaches]. / Reformbemühungen in der Zahnmedizin ­ nationale und internationale Ansätze.

The Study of dentistry in Germany is in need of reform. The actual regulation on licensing dentists in Germany is from 1955, with the last changes made in 1993. Recently there have been different initiatives related to reform: a national catalogue of competency-based learning objectives in dental education (NKLZ), changes and stipulations in the respective rules relating to undergraduate curriculum in dental medicine, and an initiative of the Germany Ministry of Health to tackle and reorganize dental education in Germany.This article presents and reflects on these reform efforts in the context of actual teaching in Germany, Europe, and the United States.The reform process is an opportunity for dental education in German faculties of medicine. New dentistry programs are allowed at all faculties with model educational programs in medicine. Therefore, an example of actual reform efforts are presented based on the experiences of Hamburg. Research on dental educational programs revealed interesting approaches in dental education in other European faculties of medicine. Selected faculties were visited. These experiences led to the formulation of five main goals of reform: interdisciplinary study, problem- and symptom-based learning, early patient contact, science-based education, and communication training. The main goal is a dental education program designed along science-based, prevention-oriented, multidisciplinary, and individualized dental care that contributes to the life-long oral health of patients.

[Dentists' workforce in Hungary and international migration]. / Fogorvosi munkaero-helyzetünk és a nemzetközi migráció.

In Hungary, cross-national migration in dental care was performed rather by patients from abroad instead of the domestic dentists' migration for working abroad. Actually, this tacitly realized and so-called dental tourism experienced two basic changes. The National Medical Tourism Ltd. arranged the First Conference for Development of Dental Tourism on 21 April 2011. Hungary's prime minister addressed the meeting and finally signed an agreement with the organizing Ltd. about governmental financial support for development of dental tourism. On the other hand, Germany and Austria deleted all restrictions against the free cross-national workforce migration since 1 May this year. For understanding and prognosis of dentists' future migration, it is inevitable to collect and analyse relevant data of the previous years. This study is presenting data obtained from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2010. According to the net outcome, the dentists' human resource system was balanced down to the end of 2010. However, this state is unsure even for the near future, thus preventing the deficit of dentists all necessary measures must be taken to keep up the present level of the domestic dentral service.

[Dental education in Germany: new concepts for the dental curriculum]. / Die zahnärztliche Ausbildung : Neue Lehrkonzepte im Studiengang Zahnmedizin.

In Germany, the dental curriculum is still based on dental licensing regulations ("Approbations-/Prüfungsordnung für Zahnärzte") from 1955. Essential changes of the dental licensing regulations have not been made for over 50 years-unlike the medical licensing regulations in Germany. Teaching and learning concepts have, nevertheless, changed considerably in medical and dental education over time. The present study delivers an analysis about reform initiatives in dental education in Germany and introduces examples of innovative projects. To be able to establish long-term and broad reforms in dental education, new licensing regulations for dentists are required. This should create a contemporary framework for education, which assigns resources and enables occupational profile development at specific locations. Thereby, compatibility with the medical curriculum has to be guaranteed just as required adaptations of admission and curricular capacity regulations for dentistry.

Dental education in a flat world: advocating for increased global collaboration and standardization.

Globalization is a broad term referring to the increasing connectivity, integration, and interdependence of economies, societies, technologies, cultures, and political and ecological spheres across the world. This position paper was developed by a working group of the 2007 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute. The authors explore the effect that globalization has had on dentistry and dental education to date and hypothesize what dental education could look like in the years ahead. While the paper is written from a North American perspective, some of the authors bring international expertise and experience to the topic of global dental education in a flat world. Specific issues and barriers addressed in this position paper include variations in accreditation and licensure requirements in dental education throughout the world; the historical development of dental education models (odontology and stomatology) and the need for congruency of these models in the global environment; the competency-based model of education and its relevance to development and implementation of global dental competencies; and the slow adoption of technological advances in dental education for promoting collaborations and encouraging resource sharing among countries. These challenges are discussed as they affect the implementation of a standardized global dental education that can lead to improved access to oral health care services and better oral and overall health for the citizens of the world.

How the licensure process will evolve.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW: All aspects of dental licensure are continuing to evolve. This article describes the changes that are occurring in the licensure process and projects the direction and magnitude of future changes. CONCLUSIONS: The author predicts that national board examinations will continue to move away from recall of facts and toward assessment of basic science and clinical principles as they apply to clinical decision making and delivery of care. Clinical examinations will continue their evolution to become even more reliable and valid. Licensure by credentials will be adopted by more states, thus addressing concerns about mobility that are expressed by many practitioners. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Despite all of this projected progress, the dental profession should expect elevated public pressure for greater accountability unless it takes a proactive position to ensure the continued competency of all practitioners.

Mandated education. An overview.

Mandated continuing education for license renewal is a vast and complex subject. The following is intended only as a summary of the situation nationwide with regard to mandated continuing dental education.

Dental licensure in the European Economic Community: implications for the United States.

The formation of the European Economic Community is resulting in historic changes. By the end of 1992, the European Community is expected to be operating as a single market of more than 320 million consumers, the largest in the world. The fundamental assumption underlying the creation of the European Community is that the best method to increase the general prosperity is a free market. The free market included services as well as goods and required the elimination of restrictions on the movement of people, goods and services among the 12 nations. In dentistry, this has already meant the elimination of licensure restriction for dentists in good standing who are citizens of the EEC and trained in approved educational programs within the EEC, but commercial barriers still remain to be eliminated by the end of 1992. The events occurring in Europe indicate that the outcome of the controversy regarding movement of dentists among states in the United States will be determined by larger societal considerations outside of the profession. The free market principle which underlies the changes in Europe is the fundamental economic philosophy in the United States. To the extent that limitation on the movement of health professionals is seen to contribute to higher costs for health care services in the United States, there may be increased efforts to license by credentials. Similarly, factors such as the need of families for greater freedom of movement between states and court challenges based on constitutionally protected rights may determine the outcome of licensure of dentists rather than issues which are of concern within the professional dental community.

Overview of issues facing dental education.

The Executive Director of the American Association of Dental Education discusses some of the major issues now facing dental education. These include: increasingly complex missions, faculty recruitment and retention, financing, student debt, postdoctoral education, lifelong learning, diversity, clinical education, research, trans-generational learning styles, globalization, and licensure.

Eighty years of dental education in Canada.

The many similarities between dentistry and dental education in 1920 between Canada and the United States continue to exist today. These have lead to parallel development of dental education and practice and to extensive sharing between the two countries. However, the provincial rather than national approach to education and health care in Canada has not facilitated national outcomes.

Legal status of dentistry and licensure.

The lack of a national standard for dental education and lingering proprietary interests in the 1920s formed part of the context for development of licensure statues by individual states. In this report, Gies called for high standards on state boards and urged the National Association of Dental Examiners (now the AADE) to develop uniform statutes and examination practices. Significant progress has been made in the past seven decades (and especially recently) through regional examining agencies and in increasing the representation of membership on boards. The challenge posed by Gies to increase reciprocity has been refocused on credentialing, accreditation of specialists passed from state boards to the specialty groups, and uniform statues have proven elusive.

The Future of Dentistry: a synopsis.

The American Dental Association commissioned the Future of Dentistry report in 1999. A sixteen-member oversight committee and six expert panels developed the report. It was presented to the American Dental Association's House of Delegates in October 2001. The Future of Dentistry report was intended to describe the current status of the U. S. dental profession, observe trends that will influence the profession, envision challenges that the profession will confront in the next five to fifteen years, and make recommendations regarding how to meet those challenges. The report concludes that the profession is strong and healthy. Revolutionary changes are not necessary. However concerted effort to address the areas of concern is important to assure the American people access to the finest dental health care possible. This effort will require the cooperation of all involved in the dental care--the profession, industry, policy-makers and the public.