Need For Faculty Development Program In Dental Education

            I draw inspiration from a Chinese saying “If you are not busy growing, you are busy Dying”. Growth and sustenance are imperative to face the challenges of the Dynamic Dental education programme.

             As Jenkins explains, growing as a teacher “means more than just reviewing your notes or PowerPoint slides before a lecture. It involves constantly reassessing what you do in the classroom, abandoning strategies that haven’t proved effective or are just outdated, and trying new ones.”¹ We may be highly knowledgeable and skilled in our respective specializations but that does not make us great teachers. You must be willing to Learn, Unlearn and Relearn to grow as a teacher. If one looks at the characteristics of great teachers, there are some qualities that are common to all of them; Passion for the subject, passion to teach and concern for the students. The former is generally present with most of us but the latter two qualities are the hall mark of great teachers.

              I have seen and heard many of my colleagues constantly keep complaining about how irresponsible and disrespectful, disinterested their students are. I really wonder how a teacher can have such an attitude. Dental colleges have recruited faculty who have excelled in their academic career presuming that they can mentor, teach, evaluate students, design curriculum, deliver lectures and conduct research while demonstrating expertise in all of them. They are indeed being asked to assume responsibilities for which they have received very little or no training.

               As teachers we play multiple roles; that of a mentor, a judge, a researcher and many more... Today in this world of knowledge explosion, what students expect out of us is early effective interaction at the right time, timely constructive and specific feedback, and a fair reliable, valid assessment. In order to meet their expectations, we as teachers need a paradigm shift in our attitudes that can ultimately help all of us become the kind of teachers who make a difference for our students. Since the quality of dental education is highly dependent on how teaching is conducted and the environment in which the teaching and learning take place, attempts to enhance teaching should be directed at the teacher as well as at the learning environment.

               Professional or faculty development has been defined in several ways. Wilkerson and Irby define faculty development as “A tool for improving the educational vitality of our institutions through attention to the competencies needed by individual teachers and to the institutional policies required to promote academic excellence.” Faculty development is not merely for new teachers but should be part of dental educators’ lifelong learning. We all need to be constantly mentored, coached, inspired, and supported as educational methods evolve and as our goals and aspirations change throughout our careers.² Ref Jourlles notes that development focuses on the individual as a future educator in academics, as well as the provision of formal learning experiences to increase interested faculty members’ knowledge bases that emphasize teaching and administrative skills, grant writing, and research—all tools necessary in the academic hierarchy.³

                  In summary, Conducting faculty development programs at both the colleges and the university level is vital because faculty are most important core resource and must be nurtured to improve their productivity and keep their motivational levels high which intern will help dental education reach its full potential.