Global Congress on Dental Education and launch of a Global Network

Abstract

Dublin Castle served as the global knowledge centre on dental education from 6 to 8 September 2007. At that meeting, 330 delegates from 66 countries from all continents came together for the Global Congress on Dental Education. 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), and the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE). The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, addressed delegates on Saturday 8 September when she officially launched the ‘Global Network on Dental Education’, a web-based resource designed by 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; with special reference to schools in middle- and low-income countries. Senior academics from China, Africa, South America and India committed themselves to the inauguration of constituent organizations on their continents similar to those in Europe and North America. There were four keynote addresses. These were delivered by Dr Mary Robinson, Chancellor, University of Dublin Trinity College; Chairperson, ‘Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative’; a former President of Ireland and formerly the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who spoke on ‘Health as a human right: implications for the dental profession’. Sir Iain Chalmers, Editor, James Lind Library Oxford and a founder member of the Cochrane Collaboration delivered an address on ‘Human rights and professional responsibilities in health care and education’. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute and 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 spoke on ‘The end of poverty: economic possibilities for our time’ via a video link. Dr David Wong, Associate Dean for Research University of California, Los Angeles, Director, Dental Research Institute, UCLA, Chair, Division of Oral Medicine & Biology, UCLA spoke on ‘Salivary diagnostics: enhancing disease detection and making medicine better’. This unique Congress was the culmination of 3 years preparatory work by 14 working groups. Each group had prepared their reports through an interactive website and these were finalized in Dublin. There was a dynamic series of working group exchanges, where findings and recommendations were debated between working groups. Each group comprised 30 individuals from countries around the globe. The 14 working groups covered the following: Inequalities in access to education and health care. Adapting to changes in molecular biosciences and technologies. Evidence-based care and the curriculum. Exploring opportunities for collaboration between the corporate sector and the dental education community. Curriculum structure: principles and strategy. Potential of information technology in dental education. Quality assurance, benchmarking, assessment and mutual international recognition of qualifications. Profile of the dentist in countries with developed economies. Profile of the oral healthcare team in countries with developing economies. The academic environment: the students’ perspective. Leadership, governance and management in dental education – new societal challenges. Staff recruitment, development and global mobility. Balancing the role of the dental school in teaching, research and patient care including care for underserved areas. The Global Network on Dental Education – a new vision for IFDEA. The Congress was an unqualified success and opened new avenues for collaboration and convergence towards higher standards in dental education with increasing emphasis on the broader aspects of global health and equity in access to care and education. This special issue of the ADEE’s European Journal for Dental Education and ADEA’s Journal of Dental Education carry a full report of the Working Group findings as well as the keynote addresses. Once published in February 2008, Blackwell Munksgaard will provide open access to the electronic version of the publication so that it is available to all educators and students of dentistry and stomatology throughout the world.