Establishment of Joint Research-Based Education in Dentistry in Norway and East Africa
Department of Clinical Dentistry together with partners from five universities in East Africa has started a new international project aimed at developing new educational acitivities with a focus on global oral health.
Main content
Department of Clinical Dentistry at the University of Bergen has launched a new international project together with five partner institutions in East Africa. The project “Establishment of Joint Research-based Education in Dentistry in Norway and East Africa” is financed by the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education (DIKU) in the framework of NORPART programme and will be implemented in the period of the next five years. The general aim of the project is to develop and establish a standardized educational platform for the global oral health at the University of Bergen and partner institutions.
Background
Today there is a lack of a global oral health perspective in the dental curriculum both at the UiB and collaborative institutions in East Africa. In order to target oral health problems in a highly globalized world, with increasing migration, there is an urge for dental training institutions to introduce courses in global oral health both in pre-doctoral and doctoral curricula. The project adresses this issue from a global perspective as collaborators from five different countries are invovled in project implementation.
Partnership
UiB partner institutions for this project are - University of Khartoum (Sudan), University of Science and Technology (Sudan), Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Tanzania), Makerere University (Uganda) and Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia).
All the partners have a long-standing academic collaboration in oral science from before, including student and staff exchange. The plan is to expand this collaboration in education and research through development of joined educational activities as well as enhanced staff and student mobility.
Activities
The project entails development and implementation of several educational courses, as well as other collaborative activities:
Through the various activities the project aims to increase awareness, knowledge and competence on global oral health issues. The project is designed to provide an individualized training in global oral health issues and oral health research methodology. By developing a digital educational platforms on topics and research methodology related to global oral health, the project will provide a sustainable and long-lasting platform for joined research-based education in dentistry both in Norway and East Africa.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Duration: 2019 - 2024
Financed by DIKU within the NORPART programme framework.
Project is lead by Anne Nordrehaug Åstrøm at the University of Bergen.
