5. Bachelor of Dentistry

Introduction

In 2001, the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Sydney introduced its four-year graduate-entry program (BDent). This program replaces the former five-year undergraduate curriculum, to which the last students were admitted in 2000.

The Faculty aims to attract and enrol committed, mature and academically diverse students. Student selection will be on the basis of:

• tertiary performance in a recognised bachelor’s degree in any discipline
• results of the Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Test (GAMSAT), and
• a multi mini interview.

Applicants are asked to demonstrate that they have the necessary intellectual ability to be successful in the program, an aptitude for and a commitment to dentistry, and the personal characteristics appropriate for a career in a health profession.

The degree of Bachelor of Dentistry prepares students for professional registration in order to practise dentistry on graduation. The program is designed to develop and enhance the skills, knowledge and professional behaviours of motivated and interested students.

Aims

The program aims to produce dentists who will develop, and be committed to maintaining, the highest professional and ethical standards. The program is designed to encourage students from a diverse range of academic and personal backgrounds to develop the intellectual, technical and personal skills to practice effectively, rationally and compassionately. It is anticipated that graduates will be responsive to the needs of individual patients and committed to improving oral health within the community. Graduates will be expected to have a broad understanding of the relationship of general health, disability and illness to oral health and disease.

Other important aims include the development of skills to underpin life-long, self-directed professional learning and the application of evidence to rational decision-making. Graduates will develop an appreciation of the role of research in dentistry and will be expected to contribute to leadership in clinical dental practice, research, education and community service.

Characteristics

Features of the curriculum include:

• graduate entry of applicants with diverse backgrounds
• development of dental skills from the first week and early patient contact
• an emphasis on effective communication and active learning
• an integrated understanding of medical and dental issues in health and disease
• learning based on clinical problems and emphasizing clinical reasoning
• a team approach to learning and clinical work
• an evidence-based approach to practice
• encouragement and support for self-directed learning
• an emphasis on information literacy, and
• opportunities to learn in a range of dental practice settings, including rural placements

Each week of learning is based on the presentation of a clinical problem, which students address cooperatively in small groups. In all, 35 problems are studied in each of Years 1 and 2.

Learning is integrated across dental and medical disciplines and between years; understanding and knowledge are built progressively in a relevant context. Students are challenged to identify key issues for learning and to seek out and share knowledge that will progress the group’s collective understanding. Three tutorials each week will be held in one of the two dental teaching hospitals; these tutorials form the basis of the students’ learning.

The learning process provides the background necessary for reasoning through issues and applying knowledge to resolve clinical problems in practice. It is essential that students progress systematically to become independent learners. They must be able to evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses realistically, and to identify personal learning needs. Those skills underpin successful professional practice and life-long learning.

Most of the problems in the first two years are based on realistic medical problems that illustrate important scientific concepts in health and disease. The problems represent common situations, with an emphasis on those that are treatable or preventable, and are constructed to stress diagnostic reasoning and scientific principles of management. In addition, each problem raises one or more issues of importance in practice: ethical; behavioral; social; interpersonal. Some problems raise issues relating to the distribution of health care or to research. Each problem specifically encourages dental students to explore within their own groups the wider relevant implications of the problem.

On the Camperdown Campus, most lectures and other laboratory sessions are shared with medical students. Some classes and seminars, however, are specifically designed for dental students. Four problems to be studied towards the end of second year focus explicitly on fundamental oral issues.

In the latter two years of the program, the problems will continue to be presented, but will be centered on more complex dental issues. They will however often involve medically-compromised patients as encountered in daily community or hospital practice, in order to reinforce and apply earlier learning.

High level communication and technical skills are essential for successful dental practice. For each week of the first two years, students attend the Sydney Dental Hospital for a busy clinical day. They consider relevant basic dental issues in a case-based context and learn many specific dental skills in the laboratory, in simulation and in the clinics. As a crucial part of professional training, students are encouraged to assess their own progress and to evaluate the work of their peers. As students progressively demonstrate basic proficiency, they move to the dental clinics to apply their skills.

Towards the end of the first year, and at the end of the second year, students attend Westmead Hospital and the Westmead Centre for Oral Health, maintaining the pattern of problem-based learning. The hospital experience will offer particular opportunities for students to gain experience in medical as well as in dental settings. Medical skills, including those essential for dealing with emergencies, will be taught in the Clinical Skills Centre at Westmead Hospital.

Small interactive tutorials and clinical teams are featured throughout the program, ensuring that students participate effectively and learn actively. The group work prepares students for working in dental teams or multi-disciplinary groups in practice.

Throughout the program, a new emphasis is placed on evidence-based practice. Students will learn the relevant basic skills in the context of the first two years, then progressively apply the skills of evaluation to issues of diagnosis and management relating to individual patients in practice settings.

The development of information literacy is seen as a crucial part of the preparation for modern professional practice. Attention is specifically directed at the acquisition and management of information.

Students will use information technology throughout the program:

• in problem-based learning tutorials as the weekly case is introduced and supported by relevant data and learning resources
• in self-study for reviewing the resources (including text and images) provided by the Faculty
• for recording data and maintaining a personal casebook of patient records
• for retrieving, evaluating and appraising literature and patient records
• for communication between students and staff
• for the analysis of laboratory data, and
• in classes for the study of images and other materials.

Students will become sophisticated users of the technology through well-designed educational interfaces.

Organisation

Themes

The program is integrated and designed to develop students’ knowledge, skills and professionalism progressively over four years. In order to achieve those aims, four themes have been identified.

• Life Sciences (LS): the underlying biomedical and clinical sciences to ensure an understanding of the mechanisms of health and disease.
• Total Patient Care (TPC): the necessary communication and reasoning skills for effective dental diagnosis as well as the clinical understanding and technical skills to manage the care of the patient with common and important dental conditions.
• Personal and Professional Development/(PPD): the necessary personal and professional skills for effective and rewarding practice, including ethical behaviors, productive teamwork, evidence-based decision-making, self-evaluation and life-long learning.
• Dentist and the Community/D and C):the place of dentistry in health care, interactions with the community and dental public health issues.

These four themes provide the framework for the goals of the program (see below), the development of the curriculum, and for assessment. The integrated nature of the curriculum means that every week some aspects from all themes will be discussed in tutorials, presented in lectures or specific theme sessions, or encountered in dental clinics, laboratories or simulations.

In order to progress and to graduate, students must demonstrate satisfactory performance in all themes. Because of the integrated nature of the program and the associated process of learning, neither exemptions nor advanced standing can be offered.

Structure

The theme structure ensures that the students’ knowledge and skills develop and build systematically over the four years in explicit domains. The relative contributions of the themes vary at different stages of the curriculum, with an initial focus on life sciences, early clinical experience and dental manipulative skills. Then follows a growing emphasis on clinical dental knowledge, skills and judgment as students manage individual patients in oral health care teams.

Students will progress educationally from lower order (reporting, describing) to higher order skills (analysing, evaluating and synthesising).

The program can be conceptualised as occurring in three broad phases:

• an introduction of 8 weeks – the foundation learning block that is preceded by an orientation week
• the body systems – the remainder of the first two years (62 weeks)
• dental clinical placements and rotations in a range of settings – the last two years.

Much of the first and second year materials are shared from the University of Sydney Medical Program (USydMP) to provide an introduction for the dental students to basic and clinical sciences in a problem-based context. Most lectures and practicals on campus are offered to both groups, but specific sessions and practicals are designed specifically for the dental students. This strategy offers opportunities for educational innovations and collaborations by combining the skills and expertise of two health-related faculties.

The problem-based, student-centred program provides sufficient time for students to pursue their own goals, while meeting the requirements of the curriculum. Given their different academic backgrounds, students’ learning styles are different, and their educational needs vary. Time is protected for individual self-directed learning, but students often find studying together in small informal groups particularly effective.

Because of the need to match the learning experiences to the problem of the week and the large numbers of students involved, the timetable for any one student varies from day to day and from week to week. Travelling between the main campus and the teaching hospitals has been minimised as far as possible.

It is also important to note that attendance is compulsory at the problem-based learning sessions and in the clinical sessions. Attendance, participation, ethical and professional behavior all contribute to a progressive assessment throughout the Personal and Professional Development theme.

Years 1 and 2
In Years 1 and 2, learning is integrated across all themes into blocks largely based on body systems, apart from the initial Foundation and the last Cancer blocks. The clinical problems to be studied are similar to those for the medical students except for three specifically oral problems in block 8B. All problems are designed to introduce the mechanisms of health and disease and to incorporate other theme-based issues. The oral relevance of the clinical problem is indicated on the Web and included in tutorial discussion. In Years 1 and 2, the Total Patient Care theme is represented in the dental clinical and laboratory skills taught at one of the dental schools. In Years 3 and 4, the emphasis is on comprehensive clinical care in a team setting. One rotation in Year 4 will provide rural experience and an opportunity for electives (at the student’s choice) or selectives (directed studies for those in difficulties).

Year 3
Students are largely based at Westmead, with regular visits to the Sydney Dental Hospital for participation in particular clinics. Students work in dental teams that offer comprehensive oral and dental care to patients. Within each team, individual students under supervision provide diagnosis and management, appropriate to their level of skill and experience. The Westmead Centre for Oral Health and Westmead Hospital offer access to a wide range of patients and clinical teachers.

A Clinical Mentor, who is a senior clinician, is responsible for the supervision and management of a team of about eight students consisting of both BDent 3 and 4 students, although BDent 2 students may also be included in the future. The teams are patient-centred and care will often be at different stages of their treatment plans to make best use of hospital facilities. Clinical sessions are held at both the Westmead Centre of Oral Health (WCOH) and the Sydney Dental Hospital (SDH) with students engaged in general patient care for the majority of their week. Patient allocation and support is facilitated by a Student Clinical Manager at both WCOH and SDH. Clinical treatment will ultimately be electronically logged, linked to all sites, through a restricted area of the BDent website. Students will be expected to directly provide dental care for a range of patients and to show evidence of participating in management of patients requiring specialist care. Regular rostering of students in small groups to specialist clinical rotations occurs throughout the year from both WCOH and SDH locations. These rotations are both within the hospitals themselves or in satellite clinics. All students will be expected to maintain a Clinical Case Journal detailing the care provided for their patients assigned to them, including management by specialists and allied health workers. For two months at the end of the year, students will undertake either elective placements (at their own choice) or selective placements (determined by staff and students in consultation to meet specific learning needs).

Year 4
Students will be offered experiences in a wide range of clinics in the community, hospitals and in rural areas. A conference week at the end of the year requires students to prepare presentations on their research, electives or rural experiences. Professional seminars and preparation for practice will be included at that time. Learning in the BDent 4 is assessed in several ways to align with the goals and objectives of the program. As in the previous years of the program, assessment is formative and summative, progressively determined and criterion-referenced. In BDent 3 and 4, clinical assessment assumes a large proportion of student progress and readiness for independent dental practice following graduation.

Curriculum blocks

The curriculum is arranged into blocks, following the organisational sequence of the program.

Goals

The roles of the dentist have been substantially changed over recent years, requiring a review of future educational needs.

Particular influences have included:

• the ageing of the population with an increase in chronic and multi-system illness associated with increasingly complex pharmacological management
• effective preventive measures
• rapid advances in biomedical and genetic research
• new dental technologies and materials
• the increasing applications of information technology to interpersonal communication
• the recording and management of data, access to information, and to evidence-based practice.

At the end of the BDent, graduates will demonstrate the following:

General and diagnostic

• an understanding of normal and abnormal human structure, function and behaviour, with a particular emphasis on oral health and disease
• rigorous clinical reasoning and the application of evidence to the recognition, diagnosis and management of oral disease and disability or dysfunction
• the ability to relate clinical and scientific data to dental and related medical conditions
• in consultation with other relevant health professionals, the capacity to relate aspects of the general health of individual patients to their oral health, disease and management
• a respect for ethical values, confidentiality, patients’ autonomy and the need for effective communication so that appropriate education is offered and informed decisions are made
• skilled and sensitive interviewing of patients, families and carers so as to elicit a dental and relevant medical history
• effective clinical examination and use of diagnostic strategies, accurate interpretation of findings and the provision of explanations appropriate for patients and for fellow professionals.

Management

• the knowledge and skills to deliver basic, effective dental care in a general practice setting and to continue to develop clinical skills
• the skills to plan and manage common dental conditions and to recognise the need for appropriate referral
• familiarity with the roles of different dental and medical specialties and the capacity to undertake further clinical or scientific training
• an ability to recognise and respond to common life-threatening medical emergencies.

Personal

• familiarity with the use and applications of information technology, including: effective communication; the gathering, recording, organising and analysis of information; accessing databases including library resources; identifying and using the best evidence for decision-making
• cooperative teamwork in professional practice, accepting leadership as appropriate
• a recognition of the contributions of basic and clinical research to clinical practice
• a commitment to ongoing learning throughout professional life
• reflection in practice and the capacity to identify the limits of personal competence and knowledge.

Community

• an understanding of social and environmental factors affecting the maintenance of oral health and the roles of health promotion, disease or injury prevention, early intervention and longer-term management of disease and disability
• an appreciation of the synergies and tensions between individual patient care and the needs of the whole community for dental services
• the ability to recognise dental issues of concern to the community and to contribute constructively to relevant public debate.

Information Communication Technology

Dental practice is increasingly dependent on the efficient and effective use of computers. Students become comfortable with the technology from the start of the program and have access to networked computers in tutorial rooms, practical classrooms, the library and in the clinical schools.

Information for students is accessible from the Faculty’s educational site, including timetables, bulletins, a dental relevance link, one-page summaries of learning topics with references and keywords, outlines of lectures and sessions, relevant images and other learning resources. Materials for the problems, including the introductory triggers, laboratory and imaging data, are made available. Various learning resources including problem summaries are also presented, together with a process for voluntary self-assessment with feedback. Students have access to websites world-wide and to databases, including bibliographic ones, as well as computer-based educational programs and texts. Patient record systems are increasingly digitalised and students will become familiar with them. Electronic mail is extensively used by staff and students and electronic forums will be established to support students when they are on rotations remote from the main sites. Students are encouraged to be selective in their use of such resources and to contribute to the processes of evaluating them.

Another major use of information technology is in evaluation of the program. There are extensive opportunities to offer feedback and comment to the Learning and Teaching Committee as well as to individual teachers on all aspects of the curriculum. More comprehensive Web-based evaluation forms are used to acquire information about the students’ overall experiences.

Information literacy is specifically addressed, providing students with the skills to locate, retrieve, critically evaluate and store relevant information so that it can be accessed. These skills are applied particularly in the evidence-based practice strand of the program (an important element of the PPD and D&C themes).

Learning

All years

Problem-based learning

The problem-based tutorials are designed to develop the students’ clinical reasoning abilities, to enhance their skills in working in groups and to introduce many relevant aspects of the content knowledge and skills within the three themes in an integrated fashion. Each week in Years 1 and 2, students are introduced to a clinical problem (usually relating to a particular patient) and the process of thinking through the problem provides the core of the week’s activities. Tutors act as facilitators of the reasoning process rather than as subject experts. Three meetings are held each week to develop and discuss the problems.

In Years 3 and 4, the role of the tutor is less central, and two meetings are held each week. A Web-based clinical reasoning model will guide students in the preparation of the problems.

Self-directed learning

During the first two years, students are helped to develop their skills in locating and acquiring information in textbooks, journals and on the Web after defining the learning topics in the problem-based tutorials. By the time of entry into Year 3, students are expected to be increasingly independent in their capacity to direct their own learning and to locate essential information efficiently.

Theme sessions and lectures

Lectures provide a broader context for the students’ formal learning and provide background understanding to assist in the resolution of the weekly problem. In Years 1 and 2, up to six lectures are held each week.

Sessions are offered within each theme and reading matter may be recommended for preparation beforehand. Life Sciences sessions in Years 1 and 2 usually offer opportunities to gain hands-on practical experience and to learn from images, models, slides and museum or dissected specimens. In Years 3 and 4, science updates, advanced seminars and sessions with dental images are utilised.

Sessions run by the Personal and Professional Development and Dentist and the Community themes are diverse, and include aspects of personal development, evidence-based practice, ethics and management issues, as well as the community perspective on oral health issues.

The activities organised by the Total Patient Care theme occur in the dental hospitals as described below.

Evidence-based practice

There is a major focus on the critical appraisal of evidence to underpin clinical decision-making throughout the program. From the start, students learn the skills of identifying and appraising the literature. In later years, they apply the skills learned in making clinical decisions to the diagnosis and management of individual patients with whom they interact.

Team approach to practice

The focus is on the comprehensive care of the patients, and on continuity of care. Students will be members of a dental team which will include members across the four years of the program and students from the BOH program. Teams, under the guidance of a staff member, will treat patients assigned to them, according to the skills of the individual team members. They will be able to call on expert assistance as required. Although the core teams are based on third year students, more senior and also junior students may, from time to time, contribute. Case conferences and presentations to the team will be used to maintain an overview of patients under treatment.

Years 1 and 2

FTPC dental competencies

The weekly program in the dental teaching hospitals introduces students to dental skills in laboratories and simulation settings as well as dental clinics on Thursdays (Year 1) and Tuesdays (Year 2). An emphasis on self-assessment will encourage the development of professional skills. Students will be helped to acquire sensitive and effective skills in communicating with patients, and to develop professional communication with colleagues and teachers. Students from the BOH course will join in some of these sessions.

There are opportunities to practice and to gain some medical experience with access to selected patients and to the skills laboratory when students are at Westmead Hospital.

Blocks 4 (Haematology, Year 1) and 9 (Cancer, Year 2) involve extensive activities at Westmead and Nepean Hospitals and the students will share lectures and sessions with medical students at the Western Clinical School. This arrangement allows students two sets of five weeks of 'immersion' in a general hospital setting, providing the opportunity for significant development in clinical skills, both medical and dental. PBL tutorials, lectures and theme sessions are all provided on site. Computer-based materials will continue to be available.

In addition, Block 8B – Oral Biosciences – will be taught at the Westmead Centre for Oral Health. Again, teaching sessions will be on site, except possibly when access is required to the simulators at the Sydney Dental Hospital.

Years 3 and 4

Placements and rotations

Practical clinical experience will form the substrate for learning in the latter two years. Clinic-based activities, under supervision, will dominate. The emphasis will be on integrated clinical care and a team approach. In Year 4, the rotations will include a range of activities in the dental hospitals, in other hospital dental clinics, in community settings where possible and in rural areas.

Structured teaching sessions

A structured teaching program is planned to extend throughout this part of the course. Problem-based learning continues in Years 3 and 4, with more complex dental and medical issues in a streamlined format that more closely resembles the reasoning used in clinical practice. Scheduled sessions will be linked to issues arising in the problem under study. Each day in Year 3 will start with a theme-based session – occasional lectures, case presentations, theme-based seminars and discussions. In Year 4, formal teaching will be necessarily reduced as the students will be on at least two sites. Some videoconferencing can link the two major sites, and it is planned to develop student forums for synchronous discussion of the current problem (and other issues) amongst those in distant sites. In BDent 4 the mandatory Extramural Community Practice Education Program (ECPEP) provides an opportunity for a month-long placement in a public dental clinic in a rural/regional location in NSW

Assessment

Assessment has been designed for students to meet the goals of the program. By emphasising support for learning, the assessment system ensures that students achieve an acceptable level of competence in all three themes. A key concern is to encourage students to develop their ability to evaluate their own progress and learning needs - both academic and clinical - in preparation for a life-time of learning in professional practice. The emphasis is thus on ongoing formative assessment that provides appropriate, sensitive and timely feedback to individuals and groups but does not determine progression.

An online set of questions is available for student self-study at any time. The questions, relevant to the problem of the week, are set to provide guidance on the level of knowledge and understanding expected during the first two years.

Three formative written assessments in Years 1 and 2 provide opportunities for students to review the knowledge gained to date. Questions are set in the context of clinical presentations, medical and dental. The formats and types of questions are similar to those ultimately used summatively which determine progression. Participation in formative assessments is compulsory, but the results remain the property of the students themselves. Students are thus encouraged to evaluate their own performance and seek help as appropriate.

The precise timing, nature and scope of both summative or barrier assessments and formative assessments are made explicit to all students at the beginning of each year. Up-to-date information is presented on the Web.

Principles

Assessments have been designed so as to:

• satisfy the goals of the curriculum
• assess within themes on the basis of criteria that are explicit to students and staff
• foster and support clinical reasoning, dental clinical and communication skills, team-work and self-directed learning
• emphasise formative assessment so that individuals and groups are provided with high quality, regular and timely feedback on their progress and thus integrate assessment with learning
• in particular, acknowledge the different academic backgrounds of students, allowing two years for the development of knowledge and understanding particularly in the Life Sciences theme
• certify that students are competent in a range of skills at critical points in the program, using instruments with which the students have become familiar
• offer remediation for students who fail to meet the criteria
• explicitly define the criteria to be met in order to achieve a result of Satisfactory.

Progression

Decisions on academic progression to the next phase of the program are made at the end of each year.

Year 1

PPD and D&C themes

• meets requirements for attendance, participation, ethical and professional behaviors
• presentation of a reflective portfolio

FTPC theme

• satisfactory completion of a Dental Clinical Competency Log Book
• satisfactory performance in a skills assessment
• satisfactory performance in written summative assessment

Year 2

LS theme

• achievement on written summative examinations including both medical and dental knowledge

PPD and D and C themes

• meet requirements for attendance, participation, ethical and professional behaviours
• D and C theme: satisfactory performance in written summative assessment

FTPC theme

• satisfactory completion of a Dental Clinical Competency Log Book
• satisfactory performance in required skills assessments
• satisfactory performance in written summative assessment

Year 3

The emphasis in Year 3 will be on the dental team. Students will progress to more complex treatments as they demonstrate their progressive proficiency. All students will be expected to achieve a defined standard and demonstrate relevant experience by the end of Year 3.

LS theme

• satisfactory achievement on written summative assessment(s) and/or assignments

PPD and D and C themes

• meet requirements for attendance, participation, ethical and professional behaviours
• satisfactory evidence-based practice presentation
• meets the criteria for required assignment(s)
• satisfactory reports from clinical supervisors

TPC theme

• satisfactory completion of a clinical case journal
• satisfactory mentor reports
• satisfactory performance in required clinical assessments including case presentations and interviews
• satisfactory performance in written summative assessment

Year 4

Students judged to be performing at a high standard will have a range of options open to them in terms of rotations away from the main teaching hospitals. Those less confident or skilled will be maintained under greater supervision and may forego their elective in order to complete tasks to the required standard.

LS theme

• satisfactory achievement on written or oral assignments

PPD and D&C themes

• meet requirements for attendance, participation, ethical and professional behaviours
• satisfactory presentations in evidence-based practice and the elective
• meets the criteria for required written or oral assignment(s)
• satisfactory reports from all rotations and elective
• reflective portfolio

TPC theme

• satisfactory completion of a clinical case journal
• satisfactory mentor reports
• satisfactory performance in required clinical assessments including case presentations
• satisfactory performance in written summative assessment

Evaluation

The BDent represents a shared enterprise between students and staff. In order to meet the needs of both and to ensure that the goals of the curriculum are achieved, the program is monitored throughout. Students will have many opportunities, and will be expected, to contribute to the processes of evaluation as a regular part of their activities. Information will be sought using questionnaires (usually on the Web) and email comments, as well as through individual and group discussion.

Curriculum planners and teachers need feedback from students on the progress of the program so as to maintain and improve its quality. Staff will feed back their comments and report any consequent changes in response to the students’ suggestions.

The performance of the graduates will be evaluated in terms of the stated goals of the program after the first cohorts have completed the program. All students are obliged to complete a research project and this can form the basis to support a full Honours research project, which if completed to the required standard, leads to the award of BDent(Hons).

Research

The Faculty of Dentistry strongly encourages research. Students accepted into the BDent who are interested in gaining research experience are strongly encouraged to take opportunities to contribute to research within the Faculty. Some supporting scholarships may be available to students who seek to carry out a small research project during the early years of the program.

In addition, students may seek to earn additional research degrees in association with their BDent degree. Several possibilities exist.

Student rules

Rules governing candidature in the BDent program are stipulated in the University's Coursework Rule 2000 (as amended), available in the University Calendar at:
www.usyd.edu.au/about/publication/pub/calendar.shtml.

Dentistry conjoint studies

Selected students with a proven aptitude for research and an Honours degree (by research) are offered the opportunity to conjointly undertake their studies with a higher degree:

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or
• Master of Philosophy in Public Health (MPhilPH) (by research).

The BDent and PhD conjoint studies program will normally take six or seven years, the BDent and MPhilPH conjoint studies program five years.

There are two methods of application for the admission of qualified applicants:

• at the time of application for admission to the BDent (from 2002)
• during the first two years of the BDent, by submission of a research proposal approved by a potential supervisor and application for admission.

Criteria for selection into the PhD program include eligibility for an Australian Postgraduate Award (or similar scholarship).

Note that students enrol in the two degrees seperately; they are not offered and awarded as a combined degree program. All candidates are expected to undertake their BDent studies full time and complete the other degree on a part time basis. It is expected that candidates for the PhD or MPH program will have made some progress towards the completion of the PhD or MPH program. The candidate also undertakes conjoint studies on the condition that their candidature in the BDent program will not be compromised by the workload expected in the PhD or MPH program. The candidate and his/her supervisor must be able to verify this at the time of admission to the BDent program.

Dentistry intercalated degree programs

Students who desire to obtain research experience may apply to interrupt their studies after second year to undertake a one-year degree:

Master of Philosophy by research

Applicants for the MPhil (Dent) will be required to satisfy a potential supervisor and the Faculty that they have either obtained an Honours degree (or equivalent) by research previously, or otherwise demonstrate their capacity by completing a relevant, short laboratory or library research project at an acceptable standard during the first two years of the program.

Master of Public Health (by coursework and dentally-related treatise)

The BDent/MSc (Dent) and MPH Intercalated Degree Programs will normally each take five years.

Fees

The course fee for 2008 is $33,120 for local fee-paying students and $42,960 for international students.

The course fee for 2008 is subject to increase for 2009 and beyond.

Note the above amounts are for one (1) year of the course and should be multiplied by four (4) to give an indication of the overall course fee.

Ancillary fees are also payable during the course to covercosts of equipment, which are approximately valued at $7000, and are subject to change without notice.

Units of study/enrolment

Bachelor of Dentistry students are required to enrol in the units of study listed in the table below for the four years of the degree.