Oriental and occidental cultural differences--their possible influences on global dental education and learning

Global dental education, through the medium of the World Wide Web, is being developed. The host nations of this global curriculum currently are Occidental, developed, industrialised nations. This review considers the influence that Occidental nations have already exerted on the development of higher education in Oriental countries. The potential impacts on global dental education which may arise from Occidental-oriental cultural differences are discussed. Approaches to learning and a re-characterisation of the Chinese learner is presented. The potential advantages which Chinese learners may have in learning from the global dental curriculum are proposed.