There are dentists graduating without ever making a prosthesis

The situation of new universities established in the last 20 years and the faculties opened under them without planning or adequate staff reveals the state of even those fields in higher education that should be provided at the highest standards.

We discussed the exponentially increasing problems of the Turkish Dental Association (TDB) and the urgent measures that need to be taken in a previous article. Since it is not possible to summarize the existing problems under a single heading, it was necessary to address the issue of education in a second article.

As a result of the establishment and opening of new dental faculties that came to the agenda in recent years without any planning, examples that we call dire are now appearing as routine practice.

Among the many faculties established without sufficient faculty members or physical infrastructure, dental faculties have a special significance. Among the deans appointed to 14 faculties that have not yet started active education, there is not a single person with a background in dentistry. The areas of expertise of the deans appointed as proxies from many unrelated scientific disciplines summarize the point we have reached.

14 faculty deans are not even dentists

It is unclear what deans appointed from various scientific disciplines—ranging from theologians to lawyers, electrical-electronics engineers, food engineers, international relations experts, and physicists—can contribute to a dental faculty and its students.

To give a few examples of the faculties in question;

The acting dean of the Aydın Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Dentistry is an expert in administrative law. The dean appointed to Batman University was appointed as a proxy from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations. The dean of the Bingöl University Faculty of Dentistry is a theologian. The dean of the Harran University Faculty of Dentistry was appointed from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, the dean of the Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University Faculty of Dentistry from the Department of Physics, and the dean of the Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University Faculty of Dentistry from the Department of Food Engineering!

The total number of faculties appearing on paper for the 2023-2024 academic year in Turkey is 105. However, the number of these faculties that are actually providing education is stated as 91. The view of the Turkish Dental Association regarding the 14 faculties established recently is that they should not provide education in their current state.

The founding dean handles tenders and department chair duties too!

Emel Eroğlu Uzer, Secretary General of the Turkish Dental Association, explains the reasons for this as follows:

“We need to question the quality of education provided in 20 to 30 of the existing faculties. There are dental faculties where the quality of education is very low, the physical infrastructure is not ready, and there are no faculty members or even a single professor. The appointed founding dean handles the tenders, acts as the department chair, and is also the dean. That is why we say: faculties that have not started active education and lack staff should be closed, and student admissions to dental faculties should be stopped.”

“THE MINISTER OF HEALTH DISMISSED THE ISSUE WITH A SMILE”

I wonder if the current problems have been discussed with the Ministry of Health recently and what the Ministry's approach is, so I ask Uzer.

This important issue, which was brought to the agenda during the meeting between the Turkish Dental Association and Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca, did not receive the necessary attention.

TDB Secretary General Uzer answers my question as follows:

“We could not get an appointment from the Minister for a long time to discuss the problems regarding education.

He gave us an appointment one day before the November 22 Oral and Dental Health Day. We delivered the file we prepared to him. Our agenda item was the newly opened faculties, and the Minister dismissed the subject with a smile. There are 1,600 students in two separate dental faculties of Medipol University, which is owned by the Minister. The issue is within the Minister's knowledge; in fact, I can say that he is very well informed.”

IT WILL BE A MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM IN THE NEAR FUTURE

Describing the increase in the number of foundation universities as one of the main problems that will affect the future of the profession, Uzer summarized the seriousness of the issue with these words:

“Faculties belonging to foundation universities are far from providing education; they aim to generate income through oral and dental health services. They use the service delivery aspect, not the education aspect.

There are dentists who graduate without ever making a prosthesis. Dental education is an education that must be at high standards. There is a world of difference between those who graduate from old, well-established faculties and new graduates. Unfortunately, today's problems will emerge as a major public health problem tomorrow.”

FACULTIES THAT HAVE NOT STARTED EDUCATION SHOULD BE CLOSED!

The warnings and demands of the Turkish Dental Association for qualified education and to ensure that new graduates do not become cheap labor are as follows:

• Dental faculties should absolutely not be opened without human resources planning.

• Faculties that have not yet started education should be closed immediately.

• Decisions that will ensure the rapid reduction of quotas in faculties that are currently providing education must be taken without delay.

• The country's education system should be restructured with an approach far from political populism and with human resources planning in accordance with scientific criteria.