In view of the launch, in October, of the new single-cycle master’s degree course in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics at the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome (Ucbm), situational experts, professionals and representatives of the world of education met today at the university in the capital for a discussion on the topic ‘What skills and professionalism today and tomorrow?’, therefore on the present and future of the dental profession and the strategic role played by university education.
According to the National Association of Italian Dentists (Andi), in fact, today in Italy the average age of dentists exceeds 50 years and it is estimated that about 10 thousand professionals will retire in the next 10 years (source: Andi Study Center): therefore, a generational change of young dentists trained by Italian dentistry faculties is expected. In addition to this, other topics emerged during the event: the risk of a lack of professionals, the national demographic issue and graduates’ access to the profession, the comparison between costs and the democratization of care, the modernity and quality of dental practices in perspective, the introduction and use of new technologies in care, Italy and the internationalization of dentistry.
“The renewal of Italian dentistry – says Marcella Panucci, head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of University and Research – will also depend on the ability to include graduates arriving from Italian universities in the professional circuit. Young Italian dentists can give a strong boost to the profession thanks to a natural predisposition to new technologies and a vision based on the hybridization of knowledge, soft skills and communication of their skills”. The wide-ranging discussion was structured in a round table attended by representatives of Andi, Aio (Italian Dentists Association) and the Order of Surgeons and Dentists (Omceo) of Rome, together with university professors from the most important universities and a panel of vertical interventions that focused attention on the state of the profession in the sectors of implant-prosthetics, orthodontics, odontostomatological surgery and, obviously, Italian academic training in Europe.
“Our task as the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome – underlined Carlo Tosti, president of Ucbm – is to offer a university that keeps up with the times. In the case of dentistry, we have structured a new master’s degree course, starting in the fall, which combines cutting-edge use of technologies and artificial intelligence, also through the laboratories of the new simulation center, with solid preparation on the aspects of values, ethics and communication with the patient, in a one health perspective”.
As Vincenzo Di Lazzaro, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Ucbm, added, “Italian dentistry represents excellence at a global level thanks to the existence of university courses of the highest profile. In this context, the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome has decided to support the prestigious existing degree courses by offering its own educational contribution through the opening of a degree course in dentistry. In strong synergy with the existing realities, the Ucbm – he specifies – is putting into play an extremely innovative training project with advanced technological and managerial content, because the dentist is more frequently a freelancer, but also in the humanistic field since a global training of the professional represents the main objective of our University. We want to train dentists capable of responding validly to the challenges launched by new technologies and capable of competing at a global level”.
The new Ucbm Degree Course in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics – reads a note – is based in Rome where there are 19% of Italian students in Dentistry, numbers that have grown by 24% from 2020 to today. They are students who ask for training that can quickly project them into the world of work. And according to the latest Eures report, almost 50% of graduates in Dentistry feel the need to complete the course with further professionalizing experiences. The self-assessment on the courses is between 8 and 8.5 for diagnosis, theoretical-scientific preparation and specialist preparation, while it almost reaches a grade of 7 for innovative techniques and organizational and management skills. In structuring the degree course, the University has taken into strong consideration the role of technologies, strong practical preparation and management training appropriate for a figure called to manage real entrepreneurial activities.
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