Objectives@#With the rapid changes in society, there are more arguments for redefining
dental education system. This study aimed to
review and analyze the problems in the current
dental education system in
Korea and then propose an integrated
education system based on those findings. @*
Methods@#A narrative
review of the problems confronting the
dental education system in
Korea was carried out. Accordingly, full-text
screening and
specialists’ discussions were extracted from the
review. The purpose of the
review was to summarize the strengths and weaknesses of Korean
dental education systems to offer perspectives on an integrated
education system in accordance with the
specialists’
opinions. @*Results@#The results revealed that the problems of the current
dental education system were identified in clinical
education, basic
science, and
humanities and
social sciences.
Dental schools should provide clinical
education so that
dental students can be exposed to the clinical
environment at an early stage and perform
patient-based clinical practice. It is also imperative to encourage participation in
research programs to train dental scientists, as well as to reflect on
courses that can adapt to changes brought about by new
technologies. It is recommended that
education opportunities for integrated
humanities and
social sciences be provided. @*Conclusions@#It
will be critical in the
future for
dental schools to embrace a flexible
education system from various perspectives. It is vital that
dental schools play a
role in developing
students’
critical thinking, problem-solving, and
decision-making skills. Finally, as part of an integrated
education system, an improvement program should be devised.