A three-year programme in oral diagnosis and treatment planning. A model using an interdisciplinary teaching team

Diagnosis and treatment planning are considered to be the basis for successful clinical dentistry, however, these skills are difficult to teach and evaluate. At the Department of Diagnosis and Treatment Planning, Tel Aviv University Dental School, a 3-year teaching programme has been developed. The goals of the programme are to teach a systematic pattern of data collection from history, clinical examination, imaging modalities and models, and to use this data to identify the patient's problems and to arrive at a final diagnosis, to develop a treatment plan, taking into account all relevant information, and to consult experts when needed, to train in case presentation, and to deal with peer response. The program includes 20 h of lectures and 30 h of exercises in the 4th year, developing at least 8 full treatment plans per student in the fifth year, a 1 30-min weekly panel seminar during the final year, and a final integrative examination at the end of the 6th year.