Mutualisation of services for innovation and learning – SMILE

The call for projects « Partenariats avec l’Enseignement Supérieur Africain (PEA) », is part of an ambitious approach to support university partnerships contributing to the capacity building of African institutions and to the multiplication of exchanges between institutions, which in terms of the development of the training offer, educational innovation or scientific collaboration. The partnership should also make it possible to contribute to the socioeconomic development of the country and promote the access, participation and promotion of women in / in the selected sectors. The project led by the Faculty of Health Sciences (FSS) of the University of Lomé (UL), the Odontology UFR of the University of Paris, Faculty of Health and the Odontology UFR of the the University of Nantes is part of this ambitious and innovative approach. The objective of the project is to support the creation of an odontology branch of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FSS) of the University of Lomé (UL) by training young dental surgeons and future teachers in the different branches of dental medicine. It is based on innovative pedagogical approaches (simulation) and aims to be attractive to Togolese students and those of the sub-region. Beyond the odontology sector, it is a question of spreading these innovative practices within various sectors of the University of Lomé by strengthening exchanges between health training courses through the establishment of common courses and access to training through research.
In Togo, the recent report of the National Order of Dentists notes the existence of only 25 active dentists out of 8 million inhabitants, which represents approximately 1 dentist for more than 300,000 inhabitants, one of the lowest rates in the world. If the supply of training does not develop, there will be hardly any working dentists in 20 years. Faced with this major public health issue, it was a real political will on the part of the University of Lomé to open within the Faculty of Health Sciences (FSS), by order N ° 046 / UL / P / SG / 2019 of November 13, 2019, from the academic year 2019-2020, the field of dental surgery. This Odontology stream will be organized over seven years of study, with a two-year core curriculum with medicine.
The implementation of this training will make it possible to respond to the various public health challenges linked to the promotion of oral health (prevention, access to care), to create jobs and to participate in the national and international influence of the university of Lomé.
From a global perspective, the SMILE project places the university as a central actor in national development. The development of the profession of Dentist in Togo is today, more than a public health issue, a real health emergency insofar as all too often these professions are sometimes occupied by poorly qualified people. The challenge of our project is to co-construct with all the institutional actors, an ambitious, lasting and sustainable vision of success promoting the development of the dentistry sector in Togo. The University of Lomé would thus become a pedagogical innovation hub for the entire region and sub-region, allowing the spread of innovative pedagogical practices beyond the dentistry sector. The SMILE project will be able to contribute to job creation by opening dental practices and strengthening the economic fabric with the desire to help resolve a major public health issue through the development of an appropriate healthcare offer. Our project will be committed to developing actions to support young women from modest backgrounds to support them in pursuing higher education and successful professional integration with the concern of spreading the model of equal opportunities developed.