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JAPANESE DENTISTS VISIT
A group of dentists from
Niigata University of Japan visited the School of Dentistry
the week of December 3-7. The dentists came to look at the
problem based-learning pedagogy and to discuss prospects of
implementing a similar pedagogy at their university. The group
chose USCSD after looking at several programs including the
University of Washington and Harvard. “USC School of
Dentistry is the only school we saw that truly utilized the
problem-based pedagogy,” said Yoshiaki Yamada, a professor
in Niigata’s oral physiology department.
The group observed several PBL
classes with the freshman dental students and watched them
work in the clinic as well. “They thought the PBL students
possessed a great-deal of knowledge for first-year students,”
said Duc Pham, assistant professor of clinical dentistry. In
addition, the Japanese group was surprised to see first-year
students spending time on the clinic floor. “Apparently in
Japan, first-year dental students don’t set foot in the
clinic,” added Mirian Said, assistant professor of clinical
dentistry.
The Japanese faculty were
impressed with the School of Dentistry and enjoyed the time
they spent with their American counterparts, however they
couldn’t resist pointing out some of the differences between
Niigata University and USCSD. “Our university only has about
55 students. However, we have around 150 faculty members,”
smiled Yamada.
The favorable ratio of students to faculty would seem to make
a good fit for the problem-based pedagogy, however the
Japanese openly worried cultural differences may hinder the
communication necessary to have a successful PBL program. “They
were impressed with the fact that every student participated
and communicated with the faculty and amongst each other. In
Japan, apparently that type of faculty-student dialogue is not
common,” says Said.
While it remains to be seen
whether or not Niigata University will implement any aspects
of the PBL pedagogy, PBL faculty were happy to have an
opportunity to share their experience. “The Japanese faculty
were very impressed by the level of sophistication of our
first-year students. Actually, they thought they were in their
third-year,” said Charles Shuler, who hosted the visitors.
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