Dr. James Woolliscroft, Dean, University of Michigan Medical School

Ann Arbor, MI - September 6, 2007 - A compelling need exists among health care faculty and administrators to develop a new approach to educating students in dentistry, medicine, public health, nursing, and other health care professions. The approach must be integrated, encompassing all disciplines.

That was the message from the Dean of the University of Michigan Medical School, Dr. James Woolliscroft, to administrators, faculty, staff, and students during the School of Dentistry’s fourth annual convocation ceremony in late August. The event celebrates the start of a new academic year.

"Society is demanding change," he said. "Those involved in health care must take the lead because if we don't, government will mandate change, and mandates may not be what any of us will be happy about."

Tracing the evolution of health care education and treatment, he said the Civil War was a major turning point that affected educators and the public.

"There was an incredible outcry then about deplorable medical conditions because of the way soldiers were treated for their wounds," he said. The outcry led to a handful of the nation’s institutions of higher learning, including the University of Michigan, to pioneer what turned out to be major reforms in health care education and training in medicine, dentistry, and other professions.

"Those reforms were things that we as educators now take for granted, including educational prerequisites, clinical training, more classroom training, and research," he continued.

Because U-M and the other colleges and universities responded, they survived and thrived. For those that didn't, the future was bleak.

"The colleges and universities that did not embrace change then, including many that were prominent at the time, are now historical asterisks because they didn't respond or they didn't have a vision," Woolliscroft said.

That lesson from the past is the lesson for today. However, today, medical and dental schools and other health care professionals must be prepared to be in the vanguard.

A confluence of events, he said, is driving the need for an integrated approach to health care at colleges and universities.

They include changing demographics, globalization, higher levels of education, an explosion of knowledge fueled by advances in technology, and a growing need to provide health care that is affordable.

"The schools of higher learning were the drivers of change then, and those of us here at University of Michigan must be in the lead today," Woolliscroft said. "Michigan is better positioned than most institutions of higher learning in the nation or the world to be a leader in a new, integrated approach to health care education."

iPod Initiative Lauded

During remarks, Woolliscroft applauded the School of Dentistry's iPod initiative that allows dental and dental hygiene students opportunities to listen to classroom lectures on their iPods or other portable listening devices.

"We at the Medical School have copied what you here at the School of Dentistry have done in making our classroom lectures available to our students," he said. "It's a fundamental change in how students learn that, I think, will continue for the foreseeable future."

Woolliscroft said he frequently has students tell him that they listen to lectures and other presentations on their iPods, but usually at a higher speed. They'll say, "I'll listen at speeds between one-and-a-half to two times normal because it forces me to pay closer attention to what's being said. But if there's something I don't understand, I'll go back and listen again."

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation's leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.

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