口腔保健学科における口腔保健学教育

The School of Oral Health and Welfare, The University of Tokushima Faculty of Dentistry was established in 2007 as a school for dental hygienists who can contribute to aged society and play leading roles as experts of oral health sciences and welfare. The graduates of our school can take qualifying examinations for not only dental hygienists but also for certified social workers. The aims of the curriculum in our school are not to train ordinary dental hygienists but to train specialized dental hygienists, researchers or educators who have high technical skills toward oral health sciences and welfare. Furthermore, new educational programs encompassing PBL (problem based learning) in tutorial classes and practices in a welfare facility for the elderly have been carried out to improve human hospitality and communication skill of the students. In the future, we intend to establish the harmonized educational system encompassing oral health science and welfare so that the graduates would be competent to have professional mind and contribute to the national health promotion.