Osaka Dental University has developed professional dentists under the founding spirit of "Philanthropy" and "Public Interest" since its foundation in 1911. In the spring of 2017, the School of Dental Hygienist and the School of Dental Technology attached to Osaka Dental University were integrated into the university as "Faculty of Health Sciences" and made a fresh start as Department of Oral Health Sciences and Department of Oral Health Engineering, respectively. In April 2018, we established "Graduate School of Health Sciences." Thus, two faculties with three departments and two graduate school courses from this university of dental medicine.

In this way, we have been making a great leap in the university's history. However, our educational policy "Science (latest dental knowledge), Art (latest dental care technology) & Heart (thoughtfulness to others)" remains unchanged, and we are dedicated and committed to education, research, and clinical activities every day.

At the 100th anniversary, as the direction which the entire university should pursue, we set five goals: "Improve branding to attract students," "Improve scholastic performance," "Improve teaching," "Focus on cultivating caring attitude," and "Focus on faculty development" and three additional goals: "Expand student abilities to conduct international exchange," "Boost graduate school performance," and "Improve research capabilities" and have carried out various reforms. Although some of the goals are still halfway through, we are generally making a steady progress and the goals are in sight based on self-inspection and evaluation.

Among the above eight abilities strategies, we particularly emphasize "Improve teaching" and "Expanding student abilities to conduct international exchange" as our priority goals. With regard to the former goal, we introduce well-prepared curriculums that motivate students to study hard and also help them prepare for the national examination and try to create effective teaching methods to promote students to the next grade. Thus, each faculty member is enthusiastically committed to education in a small group teaching system where faculty members have communication with each student. In the School of Dentistry, we try to cultivate students' "thoughtfulness to others" required for a true healthcare professional through the humanity education from the first year by incorporating community service activities into regular classes.

With regard to the second priority goal "Expanding student abilities to conduct international exchange," we encourage the students to study abroad. Osaka Dental University has student exchange agreements with 16 world-leading universities, including Columbia University and King's College London, and sends our students to these universities every year. We want as many students as possible to go overseas and learn the cutting-edge dental care, experience different cultures, and make friends who share goals all over the world while they are students. Having cross-cultural experience when people are young and flexible will help them develop tolerance and humanity, which will be an invaluable asset in the future. We have a special employment system for those who experienced studying abroad for a long period of time during or after graduate school. This will be a great encouragement for the students to expand their future career.

Oral health is closely related to the health of the entire body. Thus, expectations and demands for highly qualified dental hygienists and dental technicians are increasing. The technical ability of dental technicians in Japan is well acknowledged worldwide. However, considering that many dental hygienists in advanced dental countries such as the US and Europe work just like a dentist in private practice, the dental community in Japan is not necessarily ahead of other countries in the world. In order to improve the level of dental care in Japan from a global perspective in the future, we need new dental hygienists and dental technicians as professionals with high-level expertise and skills that enable them to participate in multi-disciplinary team care as well as having thoughtfulness toward patients. We hope that graduates of the Faculty of Health Sciences will be come top runners and leaders in the medical field in the future.

We sincerely hope that all of you with an ambition to be a dental healthcare professional will lead a fulfilling student life at Osaka Dental University, expand your abilities, and serve as a true healthcare professional who meets the expectations of society in the future.