Reflection
This was a very educative and informative experience for me and gave me
opportunities for deep reflection on my teaching and way of treating patients. The
teaching methods used can be influenced by different factors such as the course
time, class size, environment and others such as logistics and access to
material, clinical chairs etc. Matching the teaching methods to this environment
is challenging and demands creativity and flexibility. However, it is crucial
to be able to get best results in teaching/learning activity. The type of
patients, the type of cases and the understanding of the importance of oral
hygiene among people and the timing of patient´s treatment need and
multidisciplinary approach of the professionals in the field arise a lot of
issues to discuss. The underlying cause of every patient need and the
limitations of the care giver are very different in Uganda comparing to Sweden
and these define the treatment planning in the field of Orthodontics as well as
in other disciplines of dentistry. There is an extensive need of lateral
thinking and compromise which was an unpracticed issue for me in my
professional life as a teacher and practitioner as well.
Curriculum at MU, College of Health Science, Department of Dental Sciences:
1st year: medical anatomy, histology, biochemistry,
physiology, public health
2nd year: pathology, embryology, integrated tissue biology,
anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry
3rd year: rotation in clinical medicine and clinical surgery,
2nd term: cariology, oral biology, oral pathology, radiology, dental
material
4th year: orthodontics, forensic dentistry
5th year: orthodontics, prosthodontics, endodontics,
conservative dentistry 6th year:
INTERNSHIP: dental clinical work
Assessment: written exam
Clinical exam OSCE
Clinical Exam after the internship and the license registration.
There is another 3-year program for dental officers at MU apart from the
5-year Dental Surgeon program (DDS).