Distribution of students admitted to dental schools of general universities in Taiwan in 2020

Feng-Chou Cheng; Tsui-Hua Liu; Julia Yu-Fong Chang; Tzu-Chiang Lin; Po-Fang Tsai; Yung-Ta Chang; Chun-Pin Chiang

Journal of Dental Sciences (Mar 2021)

Distribution of students admitted to dental schools of general universities in Taiwan in 2020

Feng-Chou Cheng,
Tsui-Hua Liu,
Julia Yu-Fong Chang,
Tzu-Chiang Lin,
Po-Fang Tsai,
Yung-Ta Chang,
Chun-Pin Chiang

Affiliations

Feng-Chou Cheng: School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
Tsui-Hua Liu: School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
Julia Yu-Fong Chang: Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Tzu-Chiang Lin: Center for the Liberal Arts, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Po-Fang Tsai: Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
Yung-Ta Chang: School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan; Corresponding author. School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 88, Sec. 4, Ting-Chou Road, Taipei 11677, Taiwan.
Chun-Pin Chiang: Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan; Corresponding author. Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, No. 707, Section 3, Chung-Yang Road, Hualien 970, Taiwan.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 16, no. 2
pp. 567 – 579

Abstract

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Background/purpose: In Taiwan, the average income of a dentist increases after the implementation of national health insurance in 1995. Thus, the domestic departments of dentistry become a popular choice of university departments for high school graduates. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the distribution of students admitted to dental schools of general universities in each city or county in 2020 and to further compare the differences in regional distributions of dental freshmen accepted by three admission ways in 2020. Materials and methods: This study collected the number of dental freshmen of general universities in each city or county in 2020 for further evaluating the differences in regional distributions of dental freshmen accepted by three admission ways in 2020. Results: The distribution of dental freshmen in 2020 did have a big urban-rural gap. These dental freshmen were more concentrated in municipalities than in non-municipalities in Taiwan. The execution of three admission ways did play a role in balancing the urban-rural gap in the distribution of dental freshmen. Conclusion: The urban-rural gap of the distribution of dental freshmen was not larger than that of dentists. The increased guaranteed enrollment quota of dental freshmen for the high school graduates in the offshore islands do cause unequal opportunities of admission to dental schools. If these extra-enrolled dentists do not return to their hometowns to practice, this may worsen the surplus of dentists and may fail to improve the uneven distribution of dentists in Taiwan.

Published in Journal of Dental Sciences

ISSN: 1991-7902 (Print)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Taiwan, Province of China
LCC subjects: Medicine: Dentistry
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-dental-sciences/

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