NEWS UNAIR – The Dean of Faculty of Dental Medicine(FKG) Dr. R. Darmawan Setijanto, drg., M.Kes has always made efforts to instill resilient character in his students. He believes that they must have entrepreneurial spirit. Therefore, as the context is dental medicine, it can be termed as “dentalpreneurship”.

The man graduated from dental medicine institution in 1986 said that the trait of an entrepreneur is a must have for every dentist besides integrity and professionalism. “So, I am currently trying to incite the spirit of IPE, Integrity, Professionalism and Entrepreneurship,” stated Darmawan in his office.

He said that entrepreneurship is not always about selling. It is indeed one of the forms of entrepreneurship and it is mostly noticeable because it is the easiest to be measured mathematically.

The man from Madiun continued that entrepreneurship is actually the spirit of resilience or toughness. It is the spirit of perseverance. If he faces a problem ahead, he will make a turn or break through the obstructing wall, until he finds the way to achieve his aspiration. Like water which keeps flowing, it has power or gushing force and even it flows softly, it has a life principle.

On many occasions, he shares his IPE values’ improvement paradigm not only to students but also to lecturers and educational staffs in FKG UNAIR. Work system in the his faculty is managed well so it creates favorable climate full of integrity, professionalism and entrepreneurship.

Darmawan said that he is quite close with the students, including with Student Executive Board (BEM) of his faculty. One of his supports to students regarding the improvement of their soft skill is by making sure that all activities have great value of meaning.

“For example, they are given one hundred and thirty million rupiah. Their activities later on must worth seven hundred million rupiah or a billion rupiah. They can be from sponsorship or third party collaboration. This collaborating skill is a practice to hone their entrepreneurship skill,” said Darmawan.

He also emphasized that the students’ career is actually started from the first time they stepped on campus, not after their graduation. It means that the character building to make them ready to work and serve the community should be done early on. It will be too late if it is started when they are graduated.

The lecturer who finished his master program in 1994 said that when he was conducting a research training in Japan around 1999-2000, he noticed a pattern from Japan, which can be our reference. It is related to the Japanese work ethics, committed and skillful.

It is also related to their ability in management especially in dental medicine as well as their clinical expertise to promote dental care service. However, the most important thing is still their scientific quality. Those explained elements, if they can be applied through excellent and consistent synergy by all dental medicine graduates in the country, our human resources must be able to compete at global level.

Especially for alumni of FKG UNAIR, the faculty has established many international network which can be a medium for students, lecturers and educational staff to gain more knowledge. There are universities from Japan, China, South Korea and Malaysia which have established good relations with the faculty. The model of partnership can be various, from student exchange, staff exchange, lecturer exchange, research collaboration and other academic activities.

“Academicians can study anywhere, including form the native speaker abroad. The objective is to improve quality and international insight,” he said.

Meanwhile, besides being a Dean, Darmawan is also known as research who has made a lot of publications, either in national accredited journals or international reputable journals. Some of the publications were on “Prevalence of a Second Canal in the Mesiobuccal Root of Permanent Maxillary First Molars from an Indonesian Population” in 2011, and “The correlation of Dental Health Maintenance with Caries from Dental clinic of Puskesmas Kenjeran” in 2013.

There was also “The Toddlers Caries in Urban and Rural Area” in 2014, “Correlation of Caries and Nutritional Status from 4-5 year old Babies in Mojokerto,” in 2014 and “Correlation of Caries Severity rate with Nutritional Status from 6-12 years of child in 2015.

Darmawan is also active in various associations. He used to be in Indonesian Dentist Association of Surabaya from 1988 – 2015. In 2004-2008, Darmawan is a member of Indonesian Dentist Association Central Committee. In 2015, Darmawan became a member of Indonesian Dental Medicine Collegium. Since 2015, Darmawan has been an active member of Indonesian Dental Medicine Faculty Association. (*)