Quality Assurance and Standards for Dental Education: Sharing Experience

In the EU countries the main external cyclical quality assurance procedure in higher education is accreditation of study programmes, study directions and/or Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Accreditation is performed by special agencies, the most of them are members of European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). The procedure includes assessment of a number of elements such as internal quality assurance system, recourses and others. The process will be briefly explained on the examples of some EU countries.
Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) has played an important role by enhancing the quality of education, advancing the professional development of dental educators and supporting research in education and training of oral health personnel. Numerous projects and other activities has been carried out to harmonise dental education and quality assurance systems in Europe.
Right now work continues on the EU Erasmus + project entitled O-HEALTH EDU “Advancing Oral Health A vision for dental Education”. This project is coordinated by the University Clermont Auvergne (France) with the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) and 8 other university partners. The main objective of this project is to gain a validated and research grounded understanding of the realities of dental education within the EU territory.