Orthodontic education programs: An international comparison of students’ views and experiences

Impact of a Research Requirement in a Dental School Curriculum

“…The dental school debt burden has become a global issue. Among orthodontic students around the world, less than one‐third said they would consider an academic career due to debts in excess of $100,000 2 . A study at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine reported that students with the greatest amount of expected debt planned to pursue private practice or a General Practice Residency/Advanced Education in General Dentistry rather than specialty training; this was independent of class year, gender, or age group 3 .…”

Assessment of Graduate Orthodontic Programs in North America

“…Many aspects of these programs in the United States and abroad have been examined recently with surveys of both program directors and residents. The overall satisfaction of orthodontic residents with their programs, 3 , 4 residents’ motivational factors and future life plans, 5 and residents’ demographics 6 have all been assessed in the past several years. In addition, the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) conducted studies that examined other facets of orthodontic education: program organization, graduate students, faculty, facilities, clinical details, treatment techniques, and research/curriculum 7 .…”

“…Pipeline programs have been implemented recently, with great success, to increase recruitment and retention of these minority students into dental school 9 . Research has also addressed the number of underrepresented minorities in dental schools 6 , 10 – 12 . However, there are no studies that examine the race/ethnicity of residents currently being trained in orthodontic residency programs.…”

“…Factors in resident selection of orthodontic programs have previously been studied, with residents ranking the most important and least important components in their selection of a program in a study of residents conducted in 2003 2 . Nonetheless, with the steady increase in tuition costs of an orthodontic residency, 6 it could be useful to conduct another assessment to determine any changes in these factors in selection of programs. Bruner et al was the last to assess resident time spent in private practice or a General Practice Residency prior to starting orthodontic residency 2 .…”

“…The breadth of residents’ clinical education has been examined in previous studies by examining increasing case loads as well as interdisciplinary course availability 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 . While these studies have contributed to our knowledge base, it would also be useful to know the range in number of required cases for graduation and the specific interdisciplinary courses in programs to gain a better sense of residents’ clinical and didactic experiences.…”