Undergraduate program
It is one of Danube Private University´s (DPU) ambitions to educate graduates of the scientific and medically-integral study of dentistry to be competent and proficient doctors of dentistry (Dr. med. dent.)
In a twelve-semester diploma program graduates complete the Dr. med. dent. and the license to practice as a dentist in alignment with accreditation.
Due to the organization of the programme with 20 semester weeks instead of the 15 at state universities and shorter semester breaks, the intensive teaching blocks with subsequent tutoring and the highly practical orientation of the programme, the performance-oriented dentistry students are able, not only, to graduate with a Dr. med. dent. degree. During their six year, the students may also complete a compulsory elective that consist of a major section of the required theoretical component for a “Master of Sciences Specialty (M.Sc.)”.
The Faculty of Medicine/Dentistry puts value on a special practical orientation from the beginning of the study program. In the second semester, students in the subject area of “Introduction to Clinical Dentistry” are already introduced to patients. The internship “Career Field Identification” takes place after an introduction of the University in the form of work shadowing in selected cooperating practices instead. In four of the six pre-clinical semesters, DPU students come into contact with patients and clinical issues.
In the 72-week practical training in the DPU Dental Clinic, which features a holistic treatment approach, as an introduction to the clinical care of their patients, students receive intensive training on the phantom- the modern CAD/CAM technology with digital impressions is also in the spotlight- until they can be “released” into the clinic with great therapeutic safety.
The clinical section of the practical instruction is carried out according to the principle of problem- based learning. In contrast to most conventional subject-specific treatment courses, in the context of at least 72 weeks of internship in the DPU Dental Clinic, students are assigned a patient and provide him/her with comprehensive care over all areas of dentistry after a treatment plan has been created. The training, therefore, meets the requirements set by the daily practice of a dentist. In addition, students take a much higher level of responsibility for “their” patients and treatment than in the usual system of allocation of the higher doctor who assigns preselected medical treatments tasks to students. Plans are created by the students and, if necessary, elaborated by multidisciplinary team. High value is placed on communication. Dentistry students are active partners in clinic, teaching and research.