A welcoming message from the Dean: Professor Shou-Yen Kao
Not too long ago, we witnessed the global outbreak of COVID-19 within the past three years.The global pandemic has inevitably affected us, not only altering our work styles and lifestyles, but also profoundly impacting our dental students studying in universities and hospitals. Distance learning has created a gap between teachers and students. For all practicing dental alumni, it resonates deeply because our work exposes us to significant uncertainties. However, we should also pay high tribute to our dental alumni and clinical staffs who are at high risk of infection, yet still hold their posts and take care of the oral health of the public. As the pandemic gradually became endemic, we have slowly resumed our regular work and learning processes. However, the baptism of the pandemic has accelerated our adoption of various tech products, integrating them into our lives, work, and study methods. One obvious example is our growing accustomed to no longer needing to travel long distances for a remote meeting, instead using distance video calls to bridge the gap. Meanwhile, in the past few years, the rapid advancement of big data computing and artificial intelligence has deeply penetrated into the core of our life, work, and learning. It’s worth our while to think about how to deepen the application of these technologies to enhance the quality of our core learning and medical services.
Since 1986, I have been serving at Yang Ming & Taipei-Veterans General Hospital for nearly 38 years, starting from a teaching assistant and resident doctor. I am honored to return to my alma mater as the Dean of the College of Dentistry, driven by deep affection and expectations for my alma mater. The merger of Yang Ming and Chiao Tung University has stimulated my enthusiasm to return to school to serve at this mature stage of my professional career. For nearly 45 years, we have been busy with our professional careers in dentistry, yet we have overlooked the high-tech industry, based on science and engineering, that has propelled Taiwan to the pinnacle of the world stage. Today, no one can ignore Taiwan when talking about the omnipresent semiconductors. Without a doubt, the solid foundation of national education has cultivated many excellent talents in science and engineering. A significant portion of them are alumni from Chiao Tung University, including Acer, Taiwan’s first world-class brand, and many other high-tech companies, such as TSMC, Foxconn, Quanta, Wistron, ASUS and so on. Many executives of these leading high-tech companies are now referred to as alumni of Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. We are so proud of being related to as our own alumni. The technology products produced by their companies are marketed all over the world. This fact alone should inspire us to unlock the potential of excellent dental students at Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. We are also delighted to see that starting from 2023, incoming dental students will begin their university life at the Hsinchu campus. The commute between Taipei and Hsinchu may be a bit inconvenient, reminiscent of our daily trekking up and down the Shen Nong slope on foot 40 years ago. Dear dental freshman! Please just enjoy the different cultures of the two campuses and the fresh environment in your first semester. I wish you all the best. I am deeply grateful to the former and current Presidents, President Guo and President Lin, for their strongest support for the College of Dentistry, which has enabled our College’s environment to be renewed and its equipment to be improved. Not long ago, I heard that the number of head models used by our dental students was insufficient and outdated. I want to express my sincere thanks to our Dental Alumni Association for their long-term support, which quickly made up for the shortage of our models. The school has nurtured so many excellent students. After graduation, they have become the greatest sources of support, constantly assisting the long-term development of the college.
In fact, over the past several decades, the global medical environment we are in is constantly progressing in the face of competition and change. Looking at the top-tier dental schools both domestically and internationally, all highly value basic and clinical research. The combination of biomedical and digital technology precisely represents the essence of Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. I am proud to report to all students, staffs and alumni that our College of Dentistry, with its unity and determination, recently succeeded in establishing an innovative research center at the university level. Many of our faculty members’ years of research will now be leveraged for cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovative breakthroughs, which we have high hopes for. I want to extend a special thanks to Professor Shyh-Yuan Lee, who is willing to serve as the first director of the center, drawing on his past experiences to cultivate more talent for succession. The college completed the selection process early in the year. Since I am still serving as the Deputy Director of Taipei-Veterans General Hospital and cannot on duty in NYCU until mid-July, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Professor Shan-Ling Hung. She was willing to step up and serve as the acting dean for over half a year, ensuring that our college’s operations run smoothly. I also want to extend my special thanks to each of the previous deans for their contributions, especially Professor Kuo-Wei Chang, who has nurtured many successors through his years of basic oral cancer research. With solid basis of international linkage to so many dental schools in the world built by Professor Allen Hsu, we’ll certainly continue to make the best and to extend our effort to our world-wide alumni and dental schools especially in the US where most our senior staffs were trained many years ago.
I also want to express my gratitude to each internship training hospital, especially Taipei- Veterans General Hospital, where the Chair of the Stomatology Department, professor Yu-Lin Lai, and many teachers provide our 30 more trainee students each year with the most current oral medicine clinical environment in the country, rich with resources. This is especially commendable during the pandemic period, as our intern students have been able to continue their learning. They have faced immense pressure to maintain the quality of medical care, take care of patients, and also care for our intern students, for which we are deeply thankful and respectful.
The future development of the College of Dentistry at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University relies on the collective effort and unity of all faculty members and students. Facing challenges, we are fearless and are targeting to seek for more opportunities of cross-disciplinary collaboration. But when opportunities arise, we must seize them in order to realize our common wish of becoming a truly world-class College of Dentistry in multi-tracks of education, clinical service, and research.