ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS
In addition to satisfying the University entrance requirements, candidates for admission shall satisfy the following requirements:
Grade E or above in either 2 AL subjects or 1 AL and 2 AS subjects from the following: Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Mathematics and Statistics. Candidates who do not have Grade E or above in AL or AS Chemistry, Physics and/or Biology are required to obtain Grade D or above in the subject in HKCEE.
Selection Criteria
For HKALE applicants, preference will be given to candidates who list dentistry as a Band A choice, although consideration may also be given to those who list dentistry as a Band B choice. Overseas candidates will be considered, but on a limited basis.
An Ideal Dentist is:
PROGRAMME AIMS AND FEATURES
The programme aims to train students to become competent dentists able to meet the expectations of their future patients and the Hong Kong community at large. The dental course lasts five years, like the dental courses of many dental schools internationally.
Learning principally takes place in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital; however, learning resources are also available at the Medical Faculty on Sassoon Road, the Queen Mary Hospital and a variety of dental clinics throughout Hong Kong.
Integrated Curriculum
Eight disciplines* from the Faculty of Dentistry and eight departments** from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine facilitate student learning throughout the curriculum. However, there are no discipline-based courses and during each semester students will learn about topics that are multi-disciplinary and relevant to their future practice as dentists. The curriculum is designed so that students progressively acquire and assimilate new knowledge and skills in subject areas relevant to dentistry. This approach runs throughout the five years of study. Learning takes place in a problem-based environment.
Problem-Based Learning
The Problem-Based Learning approach has been adopted as the major educational method. A series of carefully structured, integrated and interesting problems allow students to be exposed to the main elements of basic biological, behavioural and social sciences that underpin dental surgery. This Problem-Based Learning approach makes it easier for students to acquire an appropriate knowledge base that is integrated and retained in long-term memory (and not just for a short time over examination periods). This knowledge base will be easily accessible in relation to the challenges a dentist meets throughout his career. Problem-Based Learning facilitates the development of clinical skills in an effective and efficient manner, and also the development of self-directed learning skills that become habitual, thus promoting lifelong learning. Students will also find that they develop an internal motivation to learn, question and understand, rather than just memorise. The Problem-Based Learning approach also allows for an early introduction to the values and ethos of the dental profession and fosters team-work skills.
Student-Centred Learning
Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. Active learning takes place through regular small-group tutorials, during which each student contributes to the learning process. This approach is used instead of lecture courses.
Course Outline
The curriculum is designed to enable students to learn the basic biological, social and behavioural sciences which underlie oral disease and disorders. The learning of the prevention, clinical manifestations and management of oral disease is integrated with these underlying sciences. Students are encouraged to acquire progressively over the five years the requisite diagnostic, operative (i.e. manual), interpersonal and communication skills which will ultimately allow them to become competent dental practitioners upon graduation.
The first year commences with an orientation to the University and to the Problem-Based Learning approach, which is a very different approach to learning from that previously experienced by most secondary school students. Learning opportunities in English, Chinese and Information Technology are available alongside the learning of biological and behavioural features that promote and maintain oral health. In addition, exposure to oral health care for patients starts in the first year. In the second year, students continue to take broadening courses arranged by other faculties and to learn basic biological, social and behavioural sciences. Clinical skills are learned and practised in a simulation laboratory where computer simulation is also used. This learning is then applied in delivering oral health care for patients in the treatment clinics of the dental hospital. This process continues throughout the remainder of the course. Streams of learning issues, which include topics relevant to Diagnosis, Prevention, Medical Emergencies and Human Diseases, Pain and its Control, the Masticatory System, Professional Behaviour, Practice Management and Infection Control, run continuously throughout all five years. From the third year of the curriculum, students learn about replacing missing teeth, along with the dental materials science that underlies the use of materials in dentistry. In the fourth year, students working in groups complete a community health research project. During the fifth and last year students are allowed a period for elective studies, usually spent at universities abroad. They also learn about providing oral health care for patients in a dental practice setting.
Learning also takes place in the general medical wards and surgical wards and theatres of the University Departments of Medicine and Surgery, and with Oral and Maxillofacial patients in the Queen Mary Hospital. Learning occurs at a variety of other dental clinics and oral health education delivery settings throughout Hong Kong.
THE PRINCE PHILIP DENTAL HOSPITAL
Students joining the Faculty of Dentistry learn in a well-equipped and modern dental teaching hospital. The 11-storey building has a total floor area of over 33,000 square metres. The facilities for teaching, clinical treatment of patients and research are excellent. A simulation laboratory with world-class facilities is installed in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. This simulation laboratory allows students to learn and practise the manual skills required for the performance of oral health care procedures in a setting that approximates real-life conditions. An extensive Navigational Dentistry system is available in the Simulation Laboratory for enhancing clinical skills learning. In the clinic, students treat patients using the skills acquired and practised in the simulation laboratory. Ample seminar rooms are available and a problem-based learning suite has been developed. Two lecture theatres are available for large group sessions and guest lectures.
Treatment records of all patients attending the Hospital are fully computerised. This newly commissioned computer system also handles much of the information about students' patients and students' progress in patient treatment.
The Dental Library, located on the fifth and sixth floors of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, contains important digital resources and extensive print collections. With over a hundred study carrels and some well-equipped discussion rooms, the Library has ample space for self-study and group discussion. The Knowledge Navigation Centre (KNC) provides workstations for users to access the library catalogues, electronic databases, the Internet, and a wide range of digital presentation software.
The Hospital also trains dental surgery assistants, dental hygienists and dental technicians. The presence of qualified and trainee paradental personnel in the Hospital supports the learning objective of providing dental care within a team framework. Dental students in Hong Kong have far greater opportunities of working within a dental team than their counterparts elsewhere. This is because they work alongside dental surgery assistants in the clinics, dental hygienists in the management of the hygiene phases of treatment of their patients, and dental technicians in the laboratory phases of constructing appliances for patients. Such support is limited in most other dental faculties.
QUEEN MARY HOSPITAL
Besides its clinical and teaching facilities in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, the Faculty also has Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery teaching and learning facilities in the Queen Mary Hospital. These are of world-class standard and provide excellent opportunities for undergraduate learning as well as postgraduate teaching, training and treatment in the management of patients with maxillofacial trauma or oral tumours, and patients requiring cleft lip and palate or orthognathic (jaw) surgery.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Students have a personal tutor for the whole course, charged with assisting them in making satisfactory progress throughout the entire five-year course. Under this arrangement, and with the Problem-Based Learning approach, students get to know their teachers relatively well and have the opportunity to develop good personal relationships with them.
The Dental Society, HKU Students' Union (http://www.hku.hk/dentsoc/), has its own facilities and a common room for relaxation. The Society organises a variety of social and sporting events, using the resources both of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital and of the University. A well-equipped computer laboratory is also available for students' use in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. The Hospital has its own canteen and a variety of vending machines.
The Faculty has an active scheme for student evaluation of courses and learning. Thus students participate in the further development of the learning programmes, which benefits themselves and their colleagues.
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
The Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degree programme is designed to provide excellent training and education in all aspects of dental surgery. The degree is currently recognised by the Dental Council of the Hong Kong SAR, and is also held in great respect in many other countries. Graduates have also been highly successful in licensing examinations in the USA, Canada and Australia. Unlike medical graduates, dental graduates are not required to undertake a year of pre-registration training before full registration and independent practice in Hong Kong.
CAREER PROSPECTS
A degree in dentistry can open various career paths. More information about dentistry in Hong Kong can be obtained through the Faculty's website at http://www.facdenthk.org as well as that of the Hong Kong Dental Association: http://www.hkda.org and the College of Dental Surgeons of Hong Kong: http://www.cdshk.org.
EXAMINATIONS/ASSESSMENTS
Assessments are used throughout the Problem-Based Learning curriculum and have two functions. Firstly, they inform students of their progress so that they can practise self-directed learning more efficiently and effectively. Secondly, they assess whether the students' progress in the acquisition and assimilation of knowledge and skills is satisfactory. Clinical progress is monitored carefully, and is also assessed throughout the curriculum. Assessments occur in each of the 10 semesters and are often interwoven with the learning process. A set of core objectives for each year of the curriculum is distributed as a guide for students. The assessment schemes allow for the attainment of these objectives to be tested. Students whose progress is unsatisfactory are given opportunities to remedy the situation.
CONTACTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
| Email: | dental@hkusua.hku.hk |
| Website: | http://facdent.hku.hk |