Shaping the Future of Dental Education II:

A collaborative meeting between the ADEE and the ADEA

King's College, London, UK

8-9 May 2017

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) have a strong historical relationship based on a mutual desire for the advancement of dental education systems.  

While there are differences between the two associations’ contextual environments and operational activities, in recent years it has become clear that the challenges faced by the associations and by their respective memberships are ever more interrelated. 

To help explore and investigate these areas of commonality, the ADEE-ADEA Special Interest Group (SIG) was introduced at the ADEE annual meeting in Riga, Latvia in 2014. The SIG then held meetings in Boston, MA and Szeged, Hungary in 2015, and in Denver, CO in March 2016 . Discussions at these meetings led to the development of a more formal collaborative meeting at King’s College London in May 2017. The meeting, titled “Shaping the Future of Dental Education II,” focused on elements of mutual interest and exposed participants to the wider discussions occurring within the rapidly changing international dental education context.

To create the most meaningful experience possible for our collective members, this joint effort was structured to produce tangible outcomes of clear value to meeting attendees. The goals of the 2017 London meeting were to:

1. Identify key challenges impacting the future of dental education in various parts of the world.
2. Identify opportunities for global collaboration to address these challenges.
3. Identify and share future trends and explore opportunities to work together to address/optimise them.
4. Share best practices that can be used on local, regional and global levels.
5. Develop a plan and mechanisms for continuing communication between meetings.
6. Develop a global response to improve oral health through dental education.

We are most grateful to Prof. Dianne Rekow, retired Dean of King’s College London Dental Institute, and her colleagues for their time, support and commitment which enabled this important event.