Call to Improve Dental School Clinical Training Where Students Must Recruit Patients Themselves

Criticism has emerged calling for the improvement of a dysfunctional structure in which dental students must personally recruit patients for clinical practice to meet graduation requirements.

World Without Examination-Based Discrimination, a Gwangju-Jeonnam civic education group, issued a press release on the 30th stating, "Due to insufficient patient connection support from dental teaching hospitals, the practice of students finding patients on their own is repeatedly occurring," and urged, "The Ministry of Education must promptly establish a system to secure practice patients."

The civic group claimed, "It has been confirmed that some dental students are mobilizing family and acquaintances or directly recruiting patients through online communities to complete clinical training courses such as scaling, cavity treatment, and wisdom tooth extraction."

Looking at posts from local online communities released by the civic group, numerous posts by students from Chonnam National University and Chosun University dental schools seeking patients for free dental checkups and wisdom tooth extractions were found, and in some cases, even offers for round-trip transportation were made.

The civic group pointed out, "For prospective medical professionals to bear the burden of patient recruitment at a time when they should be focusing on completing their educational curriculum and preparing for the national examination is a structural limitation of the current clinical training operation system," adding, "Students who are from other regions or lack personal connections inevitably face disadvantages in completing their education."

Furthermore, they emphasized, "The Ministry of Education must inspect school curricula and establish a patient-securing system," and urged, "Universities should also strengthen medical ethics education, such as prohibiting patient inducement and referral, and advise against individual patient recruitment."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.