Tohoku University
Graduate School of Dentistry

On July 28 to August 8, 2025, the Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry held the 2025 CA+inD Summer Short-term Exchange Program: Multimodal Global Leaders Development through Asian-Model Dentistry Consortium. This program is part of the CAMPUS Asia Plus Program, which is part of the Inter-University Exchange Project established by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT).

The aim of this program is to nurture multimodal global leaders, that is, individuals who are capable of selecting and applying knowledge and skills acquired from a multitude of perspectives. They shall do so in a manner appropriate to the needs of education, research, health care, industry, and government, while also understanding how these different contexts interact.

A total of 31 students from 9 universities in 4 countries/regions participated in this program: From CA+inD partner universities, students from Seoul National University and Yonsei University in Korea and University of Indonesia in Indonesia; from Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry partner universities, students from, Universitas Airlangga, Universitas Sumatera Utara in Indonesia, Zhejiang University in China, Kaohsiung Medical University, National Cheng Kung University, and National Yang-Ming Jiao Tong University in Taiwan, participated in the program, making this program more international.

During the two-week program, students attended lectures and dental workshops by our faculty, as well as hospital tours and classroom visits. Cultural experiences and exchange events included a “taiko workshop” by Kamotsuna Village Taiko and a one-day bus trip to Minamisanriku Town and Miyagi's Meiji Village in Tome, Miyagi Prefecture. During the trip to Minamisanriku Town, Dr. Masaji Saito, Chief of Dental Surgery at Minamisanriku Hospital gave a lecture on the effects of the tsunami and the recovery process. At the time, Dr. Nakakuki, a disaster dentistry specialist, also accompanied the participants on the study tour, helping them to better understand the role of dentists in times of disaster. In addition, they participated in TUIDSO (Tohoku University International Dental Students' Society) events and deepened their friendship with Tohoku University students. Six students participated in the homestay program and were able to experience real life in Japan with the support of their host families.

This time, nine student supporters from Tohoku University actively participated in the program, further enriching the experience. In addition, the quality of the final presentations was high, reflecting the positive and sincere attitudes of the students. Overall, this program was an important step in building a network of future dentists.