Virtual school: fillip to dental education

Updated on: Monday, November 16, 2009

From a classroom with real time models, it is now on to virtual classrooms, computer rooms and libraries. Given that there is a dearth of trained teachers at dental colleges, dentists are looking to use technology to reach out to their peers.

At Balaji Dental and Craniofacial Hospital in Chennai last week, a team of dentists and physicians from the U.K. interacted with their counterparts from several private colleges in the city. Anil Kohli, president of the Dental Council of India, was present at the conference, attended by principals of various private dental colleges.

Now that medical tourism was a reality in India, the virtual school effort would help to provide the necessary training to doctors and update them on the latest techniques, said Dr. Kohli. “We have too many dental schools now, but not enough faculty.

In Tamil Nadu alone, we have 28 schools of which one is in the government sector. The virtual school is an experimental programme and a good beginning.” Since the U.K. dental degree is recognised in India, the programme could find wide acceptance here.

Consultant maxillofacial surgeon S.M. Balaji said the virtual school offered an opportunity for experienced teachers to upload their notes, while classes could be recorded for later use by students. They could learn at their own pace and the demand for certain specialties would also be addressed.

The International Virtual Dental School (IVIDENT) is a three-year-old programme funded by the United Kingdom government's Health Department. The school has proposed to go online next June.

The Kings College of London Dental Institute is its lead partner, while academic inputs are received from faculty at the University of Portsmouth, University of Bristol Dental School, Queen's University of Belfast School of Dentistry and Eastman Dental Institute.

The concept

Phillip Dowell, professor of Periodontology from the Universities of Surrey and Wales, who led the team of UK doctors to Chennai, explained the concept of a virtual dental school.

He said paucity of faculty affected the training of dentists across the world. The school aimed to address the shortage of teaching staff by supporting the complete dental education cycle through a flexible learning environment.

Unlike in the past, learning is now completely problem-based, more inclusive and the standards of education are higher. This meant that a student needs a flexible atmosphere to learn and this is where IVIDENT comes in.

It covers e-content for several smaller dental specialities and provides opportunity for dentists from across the world to donate their articles and teaching materials, Dr. Dowell explained. He said dentists in India could share information on their work in the field of endodontics, in which they were good.

Currently, IVIDENT is running a project in India which aims to incorporate the cultural and language differences. For instance, a person can learn dentistry in Tamil.

In India where the focus is more on a teacher-classroom scenario, a teacher can present the tutorials to the students. On the other hand, the interactive site will also provide data on student performance and teaching activities. It will also provide information to improve areas of national interest and help develop changes in curriculum to suit the nation's need, according to Dr. Dowell.

Virtual school: fillip to dental education

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