Sir,- I strongly feel that dental students, like other medical graduates, need to have a broader knowledge of medicine.

If dental students are taught basic human anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, pathology, medicine, surgery etc, should they not also be given a basic medical degree? If one feels such a broad medical base is not necessary for dental students, then we can equally argue that direct education in other medical specialities, especially opthalmology, becomes superfluous.

Opthalmology, with its quite separate eyeball, lens, refractive error with related physics of light, photo-coagulation, topical therapy etc, appears to be a more separate and confined branch than dental medicine. But the dental field is treated quite separately.

Is it just because it has been traditionally like that? Considering the increased emphasis on quality and safety for consumers of health services, the tradition may need changing. If one fears it increases the duration of training, the same consideration may be applicable to many other medical branches.

With the increasingly stringent requirement of proper specialist training and revalidation, education and training have become a more continuous process, lasting almost to retirement in any medical field.

Dental students must first learn to consider the whole person, before they concentrate on their speciality. I see no reason why dental education should not be a specialization, like any other medical specialization, after basic medical graduation only. I feel the issue deserves further discussion.