University Accreditation Results(Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation for university)

Fukuoka Dental College

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PrivateLocation: Fukuoka, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2013
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period:April.01.2014 – March.31.2021）

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Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Fukuoka Dental College
Notable Strengths
Educational content, methods, and outcome

It is commendable that Fukuoka Dental College (hereafter, the College) has madeefforts for organizing a curriculum organization that allows it to implement its
unique education. In particular, in order to practice an education of “oral medicine”
in the Faculty of Dentistry, the College has systematically organized its curriculumby incorporating many subjects concerning medical science, and this curriculum isoffered to all students, from those students in the first year to the sixth (i.e., final) year.
Moreover, the College has held a seminar called “Medicine and Dentistry
Cooperation Exercises,” established with eight universities and colleges that havefaculties of medicine and/or dentistry, in which physicians and dentists join forces torun the seminar. In addition, in the class “Clinical Practice Training II,” which istaken by the fifth year students, students engage not only in dentistry training but also
medical training. That is, the College allows students to learn basic clinical practices
and skills of medicine.

It is commendable that the College has developed a system through which it cangive instructions in a timely manner. In particular, in clinical training, which begins
with the fifth-year students, the College has introduced an “Evaluation Sheet” thatcontains unified evaluation items and standards in order to standardize instructionand evaluation. The College has specifically developed a system in which theEvaluation Sheet is digitized according to the types of clinical training in which
students participate so that students and faculty members can always have access tothe sheets. In this way, faculty members can gain access to information about
students’ progress in clinical training and locate cases that correspond to thestudents’ progress.

Student support

It is commendable that the College has made efforts for enriching its student
support systems. For example, the College has appointed “faculty advisors” foreach year of study since the establishment of the College. These advisors offer
various kinds of consultations for students thinking about career development,
course registration, and everyday campus life. The College has also held faculty
development seminars in order to clarify the role of faculty advisors and improvetheir educational quality, and has created an instruction manual for them. Since
2012, the College has also compiled a portfolio containing the records and contentsof consultations.

Suggestions for Improvement
Educational content, methods, and outcomeThe doctoral program in the Graduate School of Dental Science does not clearly
indicate the criteria for examining degree-seeking dissertations to students before
they undertake dissertation writing. This should be improved by clearly stating thecriteria in the student handbook and other handbooks.

In the doctoral program of the Graduate School of Dental Science, some students

3complete all the requirements except the dissertation, and leave the College before
completing their dissertation requirement within the time limit set by the College.
Later, when these students submit their dissertations, even though they do not haveenrollment status, they are granted doctoral degrees in the same manner as thosestudents continuously enrolled. This is not an appropriate use of the system andshould be corrected. The College needs to reconsider ways to deal with thisproblem, and, in accordance with the purpose of having course-based doctoral
program, the College should create measures to ensure degree completion within
the required time frame.