OSAKA DENTAL UNIVERSITY

International Academic Exchange

Why we focus on international exchange
Three international exchange programs
Sister Universities

Why we focus on international exchange

Our university has signed agreements to exchange students with 15 of the world's leading dental schools in an effort to strengthen communicative skills of the students. The main feature is the short-term international student exchange program. To date, a total of 317 students (as of March 2020) have participated in the program, and while learning cutting edge dental care, they have expanded their circle of friendship with dental students and dentists around the world.
"I started to think about what kind of dentist I wanted to be, and what I need to do to achieve it," says one student after coming back to Japan. It is the time for you to take courage and leap into the world!

Three international exchange programs

Meet with dental students in another country and experience dental care abroad!
Valuable learning and a broader vision that can be obtained only by actual experience

1.Short-term international student exchange program

Each year, we hold short-term international student exchange with our sister schools.
Our students first visited the University of Sydney School of Dentistry in 1996. Since, a total of 317 students have participated as of March 2020. In the program, students can experience dental healthcare and research of other countries, through visits to campus and clinical sites, special lectures, and visits to private practitioners. There are events, such as welcome parties and sightseeing, to experience the local culture and foster students' friendship. This will help students to strengthen the international awareness and language skills necessary for dental professionals in the future. One faculty member usually accompanies the visiting group to support the students and oversee their safety. First to fifth year students are eligible to participate in the program. Its popularity has led to repeated participation by students.
Our school started to accept students from sister schools starting with 2017 the University of Sydney in 1998. The First Forum for International Students was held in August, where our students from graduate school and School of Dentistry and students from five Asian universities presented their research results and introduced their universities in English. This forum was attended by a total of 287 persons including Takayoshi Kawazoe, Chairman and President, faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students, and vocational school students. The forum was a revolutionary event that took the international student exchange program to a whole new level. Welcoming students from sister schools presents a valuable opportunity for our students to experience international exchange in Japan. We will continue to improve the program to benefit all participants. The number of visiting students is 218 as of March 2020.

2.Special employment program

We have introduced a special program to employ graduates who studied abroad during their enrollment or after completion of our graduate school, as faculty members. This program enables students to work at our university as faculty members in the future, after studying abroad at universities or research institutions for two years or more. We encourage you to consider studying abroad as a realistic choice, as use of this program unique to our university can increase your options of your career path. After returning to Japan, you can demonstrate the research capabilities cultivated through international studies in research and education at our university. We hope that you will become a driving force to further enhance our educational and research capabilities. Such people are welcomed at our university.

3.Graduate school exchange program

With the constant progress in medical care, students and faculty members expand their collaborations with researchers in other countries. To promote and improve the quality of research and clinical practice at our university, we regularly conduct exchange with researchers from sister schools. Joint research with five Chinese universities started in 1981 on annually selected themes. Since 2011, our graduate school has accepted students from sister schools in China and other countries. Academic lectures by researchers from Columbia University and King's College of London were attended by a large audience, including our undergraduate and graduate students, students from our vocational schools, and graduates. This reflects the environment at ODU to foster international competitiveness.