KSU Graduate Education in Dentistry started....
in 1402 AH (1982 G) when the Board of the College of Dentistry decided to offer, as "soon as practicable", seven specialties of dentistry leading to higher academic degrees of the University. The decision of the College was a response to the fourth Five-year Development Plan of the Kingdom as it pertained to health care needs and delivery in the Kingdom.
At its meeting of 10/04/1403 (October 1983), the Board discussed and recommended the establishment of a center for Graduate Dental Education to coordinate the planning and implementation of Advanced Dental Education in the College. A skeletal structure was constructed and approved by the College Board.
Through the activities of the College Administration, the Director of Graduate Dental Education at the time, the Graduate Dental Council and the Department Planning Committees, a minimum core of research equipments needs was projected. The Director of Graduate Studies presented this core to the College Board. In 1406 AH, the College Board approved the projection and promptly communicated same to the University Administration. Funds were consequently made available to the College in 1408H.
In principle, the College was committed to seeing commencement of the training programs in all the dental specialties. At the end of 1409 however, only one specialty program had been comprehensively prepared and submitted to the College Board for approval and transmitted to the University College of Graduate Studies for final approval.
By the beginning of 1410 AH, the Prosthodontics Master's degree program had been approved by the College of Graduate Studies of the University. Students were admitted and they commenced their studies at the beginning of 1989-1990 G (1410-1411 H) session. This pioneering group of one male and three female graduate students obtained the Master's degree in Prosthodontics in June 1993 (Dhulhajjah 1413).
The College has assumed the leadership role in formulating an appropriate approach to graduate dental training in the Kingdom. By designing a graduate study structure which combines a higher degree and a professional certificate of clinical proficiency, the College expects that those who avail themselves of the opportunity of the training will be able to work competently and efficiently wherever they elect to be, whether a Dental School, a Specialist or General Hospital, an Armed Forces Hospital, a Research Institute or private practice.
The College of Dentistry did not admit students every year since graduate education started. Nevertheless, at the end of 2012-2013 academic year, (152) females and (39) males had successfully undertaken their graduate dental education in nine dental specialties.
With the continuous admission of males and females into the current existing specialist training tracks, the College is reaffirming its commitment to providing both males and females the opportunity to acquire a superior graduate dental education within the Kingdom.