In the major hospitals of Ghana, demand for oral health services has more than doubled. In many parts of the country, people cannot access dental care due to a lack of facilities; where the facilities exist, there are no qualified dental personnel to provide the needed services. In the three northern regions of Ghana, there are only two dentists (one in Tamale Teaching Hospital and the other in Wa Regional Hospital) to take care of the dental problems of over five (5) million people. This, of course, is woefully inadequate. No wonder many people in these three regions walk around with dental caries or even seek native treatment for dental problems because there is no one to educate them about oral hygiene. This results in many patients reporting serious complications of dental origin. The Bachelor of Dental Surgery program is to attempt to plug this loophole by training dentists to take up the role of treating the dental conditions of the people and educating the communities in the northern part of Ghana on oral hygiene and, of course, extending these services to the whole of Ghana. The uniqueness of this program will be that the students will be trained using the problem-based learning (PBL) methodology and the community-based education and service (COBES) – our flagship program of training students to serve in deprived communities.

This idea of establishing a Dental School in the Northern Sector of Ghana has been on the drawing board for over a decade now.

The Northern Sector of Ghana consists of five (5) Regions and covers an area of one hundred and forty-three thousand and nineteen square kilometers (143,019km2) and a population of five million, eight hundred and twenty-five thousand eight hundred and seventy-four (5,825,874).

There are only approximately Five Hundred (500) Oral Health Doctors (Dentists) in Ghana a population of thirty-one Million Eight Hundred. Out of this number of Dentists, about 80% are in the Southern part of Ghana with the remaining 20% sparsely distributed in the Northern part. This means about one hundred (100) Dentists to a population of 5,825,874 that is 1:58,259. That is one dentist to over fifty-eight thousand people.

In addition to this, the indigents of Northern Ghana are mostly peasant farmers whose annual income is below Five hundred US dollars ($500.00) which makes it difficult for them to travel for about four hundred kilometers (400km) to access Dental/Oral Health Care in the Southern part of Ghana.

This notwithstanding the major means of Transport in the Northern part of Ghana are Motor Bicycles and tricycles which when involved in road Traffic Accidents normally affect mostly Oral and Maxillofacial structures.

Therefore, the Authorities of the University For Development decided to bring this long-standing idea to fruition.

Hence, in May 2022 a Foundation Dean with a terminal degree (PhD) was appointed a Senior lecturer at this University to spearhead this agenda of establishing The School effective 1St September 2022.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The program is a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree program after obtaining a BSc in Human Biology or equivalent qualification and aims to train highly skilled dental surgeons to provide much-needed oral health care to Ghanaians.  The pre-clinical training gives students a broad-based foundation in the Basic Medical Sciences that would prepare them for the clinical training in Dental Surgery.  This was achieved by visiting lecturers at every stage and external examiners in the major Examinations.  The specific objectives include the following:

1. Training of skillful, ethical, community-oriented, and problem-solving practitioners who will not only deliver clinical care but will be interested in the promotion of health and prevention of diseases;
2. Producing dental surgeons who as members of the health team have skills and a sense of professionalism comparable to the best anywhere in the world;
3. Producing practitioners who are sensitive to the needs of society; are desirous of acquiring skills in self-learning; are entrepreneurial as well as good managers;
4. Utilizing modern technology to enhance teaching and learning and regular curriculum reviews to permit the introduction of newer concepts;
5. Producing graduates capable of auditing their practice and applying research methods to solve emerging problems;
6. Developing a philosophy of training that is competency-based; is of contemporary relevance and also prepares the graduate to adapt to future developments in the discipline;
7. Employing integrated multidisciplinary modules that provide learning and assessment that cover the main aspects of dentistry;
8. Providing a friendly supportive learning environment for our students throughout their course; and
9. Producing a caring, knowledgeable, competent, and skillful dental surgeon capable of independent practice on graduation in line with the recommendations of the Medical and Dental Council (MDC).

VISION

To be an outstanding Oral-health professional training institution manifesting excellence in performance and innovation in rural oral health, research, oral-health professions training, health care delivery, and community service.

MISSION

To establish a Premier community-based School of Dentistry that will provide Excellent Dental care to the doorsteps of the people of the Northern part of Ghana and internationally using our products from the school to bridge the gap of inequitable distribution of Dentists in Ghana.

CORE VALUES

The following values underpin our work:

Equity:   Health is a social product and a human right, and health equity and social determinants of health are considered in all aspects of our education, research, and service activities.

Quality:  Health services are delivered in a way, that optimally satisfies both professional standards and community expectations.

Relevance: Our education, research, and service activities are responsive to the needs of our communities.

Efficiency: We strive to produce the greatest impact on health with available resources targeted to address the priority health needs of our communities

Partnerships: We partner with all key stakeholders (staff and students; communities being served; all health and education system actors; the school and the larger academic and social accountability community) in developing, implementing, and evaluating efforts in education, research and service activities

1. To provide professional development for the faculty and staff.
2. To ensure that the physical resources, space, and facilities, are managed to the optimal benefit of the school.

Professional and Community Relationships

1. To increase participation in the programs and activities of the school of dentistry and the community.

Clinical Services

1. To ensure that the Clinical environment is maintained at an optimal level of quality.
2. To serve as a quality referral center that provides comprehensive care to patients with special needs