| dc.description.abstract | This paper, written at the close of a decade
of democracy in South Africa, sets
out to analyse the demographic profile
of dental graduates from 1985-2004 at
the five Faculties/Schools of Dentistry in
South Africa. A comparison of the profiles
for the pre-democracy (1985-1994) and
post-apartheid (1995-2004) periods has
been made. The demographic profile of
first year dental students from 2000-2005
is also presented. From 1985-1994, most
dental graduates were male (79%), but
this changed substantially from 1995-2004,
with females comprising 46% of those
graduating. In the pre-democracy period,
more than three-quarters of all graduates
were White (78%), decreasing to 46% in
the post-apartheid period under review.
Black graduates increased from 6% to 24%
across the two study periods. Amongst the
first year dental student intake from 2000-
2005, females comprised 57%. There was
an almost equal distribution across the
White, Black and Asian groups.
Dental faculties/schools have made important
strides in transforming the demographic
profile of their students. The percentage
of Black graduates, however, needs to be
significantly increased if it is to reflect the
national population. Faculties/schools must
further ensure that able students from working
class background are identified and
considered for acceptance into the undergraduate
dental programme, and should
then be offered the necessary academic
and mentoring support to enable success. | en_US |
