History of Postgraduate Education

[From the 1958-1959 Hya Yaka/Yearbook]

Postgraduate Education

The programme of postgraduate education in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto is relatively young, having begun just over thirty years ago. It was started because of the realization by the Faculty of the growing need for personnel in Dentistry trained in the methods and principles of research. The first post-doctoral degrees offered were the Bachelor of Science in Dentistry (B.Ss.D.) [sic] and the Master of Science in Dentistry (M.Sc.D.) and both were establishedi n 1927. The M.Sc.D. programme was patterned after similar programmes in other University departments, and included a major and a minor subejct, a language other than English and the presentation of a thesis which reported an original research project carried out by the candidates during their training period. In 1934 R. G. Agnew was admitted to the Master of Science in Dentistry degree—the first of approximately fifty who now hold the degree. Originally the B.Sc.D. requirements were patterned after those for the Master's degree, except that less time was involved in completing the programme. However, the regulations have now been changed so that the B.Sc.D. degree is now a "degree by course," and requirements include a minimum number of courses and course hours, but no research or a thesis are required. It was felt that this sort of programme would more adequately suit the dentist who wished to take a series of refresher courses spread over a considerable period of time. Five B.Sc.D. degrees were awarded in 1928—to E. M. Fisher, A. W. Lindsay, V. M. Lloyd, H. J. Machester, and C. H. M. Williams, and the total number of degrees awarded since its inception now numbers about sixty.

During the 1940's a series of courses were established within the Faculty designed to qualify candidates in one of the dental spoecialties. The first of these was one leading to the Diploma in Dental Public Health, which was begun in 1944. It was set up as a one-year course designed to provide graduates in dentistry with the background and experience to function as a dental specialist in the field of disease prevention in public health units throughout the country. Since its inception the course has operated with the close co-operation and assistance of the staff of the University of Toronto School of Hygiene, the school in which other Public Health workers receive their training. The majority of classes in the D.D.P.H. course are taken with Medical Public Health candidates. The first Diplomas in Dental Public Health were awarded in 1946 to H. K. Brown, S. L. Honey, F. A. Kohli and H. R. McLaren.

Two years after the Dental Public Health course was started in 1946, Diploma courses leading to specialist certification in the fields of Dental Oral Surgery and Anaesthesia, Orthodontics, and Periodontics were begun, and in 1949 the Diploma course in Pedodontics was also established. Originally they all were one year courses, but all have since then been lengthened to two years except the Dental Oral Surgery course which takes three years to complete. The first Diplomas in Dental Oral Surgery and Anaesthesia were awarded in 1946 to A. Gardiner, A. E. Hobden, and D. H. MacDonald; in 1947 D. S. Moore and C. T. Peterson received the first Diplomas in Periodontics; E. E. Jpohns, W. J. Shultis, and D. A. Campbell received the first Diplomas in Orthodontics in 1946; and the 1952 Diplomas in Pedodontics were awarded to W. H. Feasby and R. L. Scott.

In addition to the longer full-time courses which have been mentioned, a series of one-week courses were organized in response to a demand for refresher or continuation courses for general practitioners in dentistry. The first series was presented a little more than ten years ago, and included many of the clinical phases of dental practice, e.g. Radiology, Operative Dentistry, Dental Surgery, Periodontics, Orthodontics, as well as courses in basic sciences applicable to dentistry. Several of the courses have now been discontinued, but with the move into the new dental building with the enlarged facilities for both clinical participation and study, a considerable upsure in this type of postgraduate education is envisaged.

In 1955, in order to integrate the teaching in the various areas of postgraduate instruction and to provide a central administrative office, the Division of Postgraduate Studies was organized as a department of the Faculty.

As was stated at the outset, the postgraduate education programme within the Faculty of Dentistry, is still relatively young when compared with the undergraduate teaching programme, and it is still growing. Growth will remain limited numerically. There is no desire of the part of the staff to increase the number of students to the point where the quality of the educaion is threatened. Fortunately and challengingly, there is no limit to expansion qualitatively.

[Dr. K. J. Paynter]