Distribution of students admitted to dental schools of general universities in Taiwan in 2020

Abstract

Background/purpose In Taiwan, the average income of a dentist increases after the implementation of national health insurance in 1995. Thus, the domestic departments of dentistry become a popular choice of university departments for high school graduates. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the distribution of students admitted to dental schools of general universities in each city or county in 2020 and to further compare the differences in regional distributions of dental freshmen accepted by three admission ways in 2020. Materials and methods This study collected the number of dental freshmen of general universities in each city or county in 2020 for further evaluating the differences in regional distributions of dental freshmen accepted by three admission ways in 2020. Results The distribution of dental freshmen in 2020 did have a big urban-rural gap. These dental freshmen were more concentrated in municipalities than in non-municipalities in Taiwan. The execution of three admission ways did play a role in balancing the urban-rural gap in the distribution of dental freshmen. Conclusion The urban-rural gap of the distribution of dental freshmen was not larger than that of dentists. The increased guaranteed enrollment quota of dental freshmen for the high school graduates in the offshore islands do cause unequal opportunities of admission to dental schools. If these extra-enrolled dentists do not return to their hometowns to practice, this may worsen the surplus of dentists and may fail to improve the uneven distribution of dentists in Taiwan.

A retrospective study of the admission ways in the School of Dentistry of National Taiwan University from 2000 to 2021

“…Therefore, the trial operation of recommended selection for admission began in 1994. 6 , 7 , 8 Prior to this, our dental students were all screened entirely through a one-time paper-based entrance examination. However, the screening method is usually only based on the absolute score of the student.…”

“…In addition, students’ community service experience and personal statement and references are considered to be additional aspects. 6 Currently, the proportion of our dental students admitted through a one-time paper-based entrance examination or a multi-faceted and multi-step process is almost one to one. Therefore, it is also worthwhile to study whether there are differences in learning status, academic achievement, and career development of dental students who enter dental schools through different admission ways.…”

“…Since the dental schools became a popular choice and the multiple entrance program was implemented, admission to dental schools became a very competitive and multi-faceted process. 6 Our dental school enrollees were also diverse and outstanding at all levels. In addition to the winners of the International Mathematics or Science Olympiads and the International Science Fairs, the dental school enrollees admitted through examination admission are students with particularly high academic scores.…”

“…Admission to a dental school has become a highly competitive and multi-faceted process. 6 , 7 , 8 However, early Taiwanese students who were interested in medicine always chose the medical school as their first choice, followed by the dental school. Even after getting admission to a dental school, it is a common fact that some of the dental students give up and retake the joint college entrance examination to enter the medical schools.…”

The training effectiveness of dental trainees in postgraduate year training program for dentists

“…Previous studies also found that the locations of dental trainees’ training institutions may affect their choice of practice locations after training. 1 , 17 , 18 Therefore, it is recommended to increase a large number of dental clinics, especially those in remote areas, to join the training groups of university hospitals. We think that this may promote the redistribution of dentists and slow down the phenomenon of excessive concentration of dentists in the metropolitan areas.…”