Knowledge and skills that should be included in a graduate prosthodontic program

Abstract

I have pointed out some of the things that should be included in a graduate prosthodontic program in order that graduate students will have the knowledge and skill needed for this stage of their careers. The graduate program that I have described is one that offers opportunity for development to students. It is not the end in itself. This educational discipline must be geared to the ultimate goals of each individual student. Since there are three main categories of graduate students in prosthodontics, there must be three educational plans at the graduate level. No one is more exacting or demanding than the others, but the requirements are different. These plans are for clinical practice, education, or research. The emphasis of graduate training should be upon why instead of how and, therefore, upon the basic sciences that provide the answers to why some techniques are better than others. Once the student understands the reasons why a technique is effective, he can develop his skills in that technique through practice. On this same basis, he can effectively evaluate any proposed technique in order to determine whether or not it is good. The research and the thesis required in graduate programs in prosthodontics are learning techniques. They are valuable in developing the objective attitudes that are essential to progress. They are valuable as means for continuing study, for guiding others, and for communicating with others. The clinical requirements and achievement in a graduate program are those of a laboratory course designed to test methods rather than to test individual abilities of students. The student is expected to develop his own digital dexterity with experience to be obtained beyond the graduate program. The graduate program is designed to give him the tools for judging the effectiveness of his own prosthodontic treatment as well as the effectiveness of others.