Quantitative assessment of post-graduate orthodontic program in Okayama University

Recently, the importance of evaluation of dental education has been emphasized. In order to achieve and maintain the high level of graduate student quality, quantitative assessment is essential for university educational programs. Especially in orthodontics, basic science is extremely important from clinical point of view. However, there has been no report that has quantitatively evaluated the outcome of post-graduate seminar in orthodontic program. Total of 18 graduate students in orthodontic graduate program in Okayama University from year 2002 to 2004 participated in this study. Quantitative assessment before and after the Proffit's reading seminar was evaluated among different chapters. As a result, significant improvement (approximately 30% increase) in the total average scores was observed in all 3 years. Furthermore, there seem to be common subjects that the students have difficulty in understanding. In conclusion, significant increase in scores after the seminar was observed in all examined 3 years, and the progress of the basic knowledge of orthodontics was clearly demonstrated by quantitative assessment. Furthermore, we may have to consider what subjects we need to concentrate in teaching the post-graduate students in the future.