Undergraduate education

Abstract

By way of recapitulation, I want to emphasize several points again before closing. 1. 1. Historical analysis shows that the pattern was set as early as 1935 and has been repeated several times, only to fall on deaf ears. We must get our house in order now with definitive criteria for the undergraduate curriculum. 2. 2. Our status quo belies the dynamic nature of our specialty. Signs point to the imminent loss of responsibility for orthodontic indoctrination to others more willing to incorporate orthodontic philosophies in their specialties and to teach them. 3. 3. Present undergraduate courses show a fantastic variability—of such degree as to be termed “experimental” during the 1958 Michigan Workshop. Minimum standards, uniformity, and the staking out of the legitimate domain of orthodontics are essential now. 4. 4. Orthodontics, as the great coordinator of dentistry in the undergraduate curriculum, needs more adequate facilities and more time with the students. Utilization of current audio-visual developments, leading to complete departmental libraries, will be of significant help. 5. 5. We must raise orthodontic staff needs to first priority, particularly on the undergraduate level. We must recruit qualified teachers by all means at our disposal. We must encourage didactic training courses for prospective staff members and provide sufficient auxiliary personnel to make their teaching time most profitable.