A record keeping system addressing future needs.

Important long-range decisions regarding the provision of dental care and the education of dentists and dental para-professionals will be made by the government and third parties. The quality and interpretation of the data to be used depend on who gathers it. If the dental profession is not in the position to gather the data, others certainly will be. There is a wealth of statistical data in the records of every practice. The record keeping system described provides an organized way to get such information out, with a minimum of additional effort. Rather than making it a series of separate tasks to generate a statistical description of the practice population, the incidence of problems, or the progression of treatments, this record keeping system provides a single comprehensive method. This method grows with a practice, whether individual, group, or clinic. By doing this, it provides a long-range continuous monitor of the practice population and the problems incident to it. The installation of such a methodology in clinics and dental school faculty practices will rapidly contribute to our knowledge regarding dental health care. Adoption in whole or in part by private practioners will provide them with new tools for the delivery of better dental care and practice management.

Evaluation by objectives: A systematic approach to the evaluation of educational programs and activities in dental education.

In response to the need for more effective utilization of resources, many institutions of higher learning are beginning to use corporate management methods. These methods, MBO being the most familiar example, center on the common comprehension at all levels of the goals of the corporation. However, institutions of higher learning uniformly lack a cohesiveness of purpose that extends from the level of president to that of teaching faculty. It is a mistake to assume that institutional educational goals are understood and supported by appropriate educational objectives at the department and program level. The evaluation-by-objective format is a concise graphical way to identify areas of support and confusion. It can be applied at each level of the institution and transmitted upward so that personnel at each administrative level can see the way in which its goals and objectives are perceived at lower levels. The proposed format facilitates grouping of educational objectives into programs, providing a framework for the estimation of effort and of needed resources. Since perceptions of effort and required resources will differ depending upon perspective, important issues will be identified, a most significant benefit of the system. The format leads to the formulation of an action plan, which should be reviewed periodically. The first step toward scientific management in institutions of higher learning must be a clear understanding of institutional and subunit goals, along with a set of education objectives that will accomplish these goals. The evaluation-by-objective format directs itself to exactly that concern.