The 1995-1996 UP Pre-Dentistry Program: profile of students, problems and implications to dental proper admission

The study focuses on the pre-dentistry program of the University of the Philippines Manila. It presents a demographic profile of its students and also the issues and problems they are confronted with. The results reveal that a typical pre-dentistry student is female who hails from Metro Manila and graduated with certain honors from a private high school. While in UP Manila, the pre-dentistry student is confronted with problems on career decisions and coping with the college's academic standard. Apparently, these problems stem from the fact that his/her preferred choice of course in the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) is Physical Therapy, and BS Biology. In UP Manila, the pre-dentistry student finds Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics difficult to pass or obtain high grades. Admission into the dental proper program is perceived to be too competitive due to the limited slots available in the first year proper program. Moreover, the applicant has to meet the general weighted average (GWA), pass the dexterity test and interview by the Admission Committee of the college. The study further reveals the student's desire to move out from the college when the opportunity to shift comes along. The following are their reasons for shifting. Firstly, they do not want to be dentists. Secondly, even if they wanted to become dentists, they are not assured of slots in the Dentistry proper. Thirdly, they want to shift to their preferred courses as soon as possible. To deal with these issues, the study suggests that the administration should consider the following recommendations: (1) the DDM program should be turned to a quota course in the UPCAT in order to discourage applicants who are not interested in the course and to avoid the so-called "back-door-entry" to UP.; (2) the college should implement the selective admission process as early as first year pre-dentistry. (3) the college should consider lateral entry of qualified Bachelor of Science degree holders; and (4) increase the quota of more popular courses in UP Manila, like, BS Physical Therapy, BS Biology, and BS Public Health.