Brandenburg Spirit: Practice orientation right from the start

Brandenburg an der Havel, 23 April 2025

A true upgrade of studies in dental medicine is in progress, with a breath of fresh air, interdisciplinary approaches, the vision of a new generation of teachers and young professors, and topics only mentioned in passing in conventional curricula. An exponent of the new concept, which includes early practical instruction, training of communicative skills and practice management, is Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schmalz. In October 2024 he was appointed Brandenburg’s first professor of dental medicine at the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB). He answers our questions in the following exclusive interview.

Prof. Schmalz, the program in dental medicine in Brandenburg an der Havel conforms to the latest requirements for model curricula; what exactly does that mean?

The Brandenburg model curriculum in dental medicine (BMZ), needless to say, adheres to current licensing regulations for dentists. But our basic structure differs from standard programs in some essential aspects. Our students start early with training in practical skills on simulators. The simulator course in conservative dentistry and periodontology, for example, is scheduled for the third semester. In general, the BMZ has a high percentage of practical instruction. We integrate subject matter from dental medicine in the instruction on basic subjects. Wherever possible, we interlink anatomy, biochemistry and physiology with topics from dental medicine or clinical issues – for example: pain (physiology), topographic anatomy of the oral cavity (anatomy) and local anesthesia (dental medicine). The idea is to ensure sustainable learning. Starting with the first semester, students pursue independent and targeted studies on specific assignments in the format of Problem Oriented Learning (POL). Further curricular specifics are practice days in surgeries of family doctors and dentists. We convey the fundamentals of academic work and offer scientific internships. In addition, students are schooled in communication or social medicine. All these elements taken together help our students to develop knowhow and skills at an early time in their studies, for further consolidation in treatment courses with actual patients from the seventh semester onwards. To make this concept work, a highly motivated interprofessional team is developing the curriculum on a continuous basis.    

How do you plan to combine and integrate oral health and general health within the new model curriculum?

The topic is of course important to me, and I find the basic BMZ concept particularly congenial. We link up fundamentals with clinical content, and in the same way we locate general medical issues in the context of dental medicine. In practical terms, it means that we use correlations between oral and general health to improve students’ understanding of course content. For example: We conduct lectures on periodontitis and atherosclerosis, or periodontitis and rheumatic diseases, where one teacher from internal medicine and another from dental medicine illustrate the subject matter from the perspective of their own discipline. We aim to offer “the big picture” and take the patient perspective into account. We are currently preparing a “smokers’ week” where we plan to illustrate the impact of smoking on oral health and develop ways to address the issue at patient level in daily practice. This encompasses further topics such as addiction and ways to quit smoking, a change of habits, mitigation and prevention. In the long run, it will be to the benefit of our students to find the thematic field scientifically anchored here on site; this will be helpful for their research internships or doctoral projects and promote a deeper understanding of correlations between oral and systemic health.      

Keyword communication: How will the Brandenburg curriculum ensure that prospective dentists acquire the corresponding competences?

Communicative competences, a high degree of empathy and good nonverbal and verbal interaction are essential qualities in dentists. Structured forms of conveying information, explanations or instructions are important in dental medicine. This is why aspects of communication, patient perspective and psychology play a key role in the BMZ and are integral parts of teaching. Basically, the MHB addresses these focal points via the TRIK format (TRIK standing for teamwork, reflection, interaction and communication). The format is a longitudinal curricular element across all semesters and covers manifold basic competences in dealing with patients, to be schooled e.g. via conversations with simulation patients. Communication is not just one curricular topic, it is a core element of our program in dental medicine.  

The interview was conducted by Marlene Hartinger for zwp-online, where it was broadcast first.