Accreditation Results(Accreditation Results for School of Dental Education)

Department of Dentistry, School of Dentistry,
Health Sciences University of Hokkaido

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Hokkaido, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2023
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2031）

Department of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido

Accreditation Results
for the Department of Dentistry, School of Dentistry,
Health Sciences University of Hokkaido
The School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, develops dentists
under the educational goal of “nurturing dentists with rich humanity and high professional
ethics, who will contribute to the maintenance and improvement of public health and theadvancement of dental medicine and dental healthcare from both local and international
perspectives" based on the University’s founding spirit of "Development of thecomplete personality of a medical professional through the trinity of intellectual, moral,and physical education." and in accordance with the School’s educational mission of"Promoting education that aims to link and integrate dental health, dental care, andwelfare, and nurturing medical professionals who can protect oral health according topeople's life stages, thereby contributing to local and international communities, and tothe happiness of humanity.”
To achieve its goals the School offers an education program that develops basic
knowledge and communication skills in the first year and teaches basic dental care andmedical interviewing skills in the second year. Third- and fourth-year students takeclinical-related courses and participate in clinical simulations in addition to basic dental
care courses, while fifth- and sixth-year students receive medical safety training, undergoclinical clerkships, and take courses that systematically and comprehensively review all
the basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes learned throughout the program. Advanced
courses conducted in collaboration with other healthcare-related schools, such as
Introduction to Interprofessional Collaboration, Overview of Nursing Welfare,
Pharmaceutical Science, Overview of Rehabilitation Science, Medical Behavioral
Science, Practical Training in Interprofessional Community-Based Integrated Care,
Practical Training in Nursing Care Facilities, and Practical Training on House-Call DentalCare, are unique learning opportunities that draw on the University’s strength as a multifaculty medical university. A commendable aspect of the School’s student support
program is the responsive, year-level-specific learning interventions for students
struggling academically or repeating years, including personal interviews, one-on-one
instruction, and FD workshops. Furthermore, the School aims to enhance learning
effectiveness by leveraging an electronic portfolio, used by students to self-reflect and by
the faculty to monitor and assess student learning. The School also provides dedicatedlearning support that includes, for example, worksheets prepared based on past nationaldentistry examination questions that students complete one sheet per day for submission
1

Department of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido

to their teacher for marking to test their understanding. These are highly commendableinitiatives.
There are several areas of improvement the School should address, however.
First, the School needs to establish as soon as possible a process to respond
appropriately to student concerns or questions about their grades with a view to ensuring
the robustness and fairness of the grading system. Second, the ratio of freshmanenrollment to the freshman enrollment cap and the ratio of student enrollment to thestudent enrollment cap are low. This situation comes against the backdrop of the School’s
2022 competition ratio being lower than the average ratio of all private dental universities
in Japan. The School is expected to implement swift and continuous improvement efforts
based on strategies now being developed to address this challenge. Third, the School’s
ratios of female teachers and international teachers to the overall number of full-timeteachers are below the University’s target levels, and continued efforts should be made tomeet these targets.
To improve these issues the School is advised to utilize the results of thisaccreditation for schools of dental education and continue its self-study efforts for
improvement, while assuring and enhancing the quality of its undergraduate dental
education and further developing the unique characteristics of the dental education
program.

2