7. Bachelor of Oral Health

Overview

The Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) degree course is a full-time three year vocational program designed to provide education at a university level so that graduates may register as dental hygienists and dental therapists. It will equip students with the required skills, knowledge and experience to deliver oral health education and promotion, dental hygiene and dental therapy services to patients in NSW, as well as throughout Australia and New Zealand. The program combines a firm scientific basis with extensive skills and professional development to produce graduates who are equipped to deal with the full range of treatments that dental hygienists and dental therapists may offer in the environment within which they work.

The course is structured so that students start acquiring their science foundation in parallel with early contact with patients, and the level and amount of patient contact increases as their scientific skills and oral health competencies grow. The emphasis of the course is on prevention and health maintenance in the context of a primary health care approach. Clinical practice largely occurs in the teaching hospitals where a team approach to patient care is practised. In their final year students are enhancing their understanding and knowledge of the legal, ethical and organisational environment in which they are practising, at the same time as delivering services to patients.

Graduates will have an effective understanding of their role and the roles of others in the oral health team as they deliver dental hygiene and dental therapy services to the community, delivering dental care appropriate to their scopes of practice, and referring patients to other providers as necessary.

They will be able to liaise confidently with a range of health providers and deliver high-quality oral health education and promotion in the community.

They will know how to apply theory to practice in a range of different situations, and will have the spirit of enquiry that encourages the extension of their knowledge and skill and their own professional development.

They will be able to assume responsibility for the treatment of their patients' oral health, including analysis, diagnosis, and the development and execution of a treatment plan.

They will know their limits, personal and professional, and be able to work competently and confidently within them.

They will have the training and attributes to exercise leadership in oral health promotion, dental hygiene and dental therapy in the future.

Knowledge

Detailed knowledge and skills in all topics identified by the Australian Dental Council as being essential to an undergraduate dental auxiliary program, and in all topics specified by NSW legislation for dental hygienists and dental therapists.

Expertise in the analysis of dental conditions, in the diagnosis of dental diseases, and in the development and execution of dental treatments plans, under the supervision of a dentist.

Thinking skills

Develop, integrate and apply knowledge and understanding of basic, clinical, behavioural and social sciences to support, inform and enlighten professional practice.

Acquire, understand and integrate the latest knowledge into practice on a continuous basis.

Keep up-to-date with professional, social and cultural changes and develop an understanding of their implications for practice.

Personal skills

Develop and maintain the capacity to work as a member of an oral health team to provide community-based health promotion and individual patient care in the current and future professional, ethical and legal environment.

Develop the ability to use information technology for patient management, communication, professional development, research, and practice management.

Personal attributes

Develop an understanding of oral health as an integral part of overall health, and apply a preventive approach to the improvement of oral health through the community, including disadvantaged groups and the indigenous population.

Develop and apply a broad understanding of different perspectives – professional, cultural, social, political – to the practice environment.

Apply an ethical and moral approach to practice.

Use critical self-examination and reflection as tools for personal and professional development, and to gain an appreciation of the need for continuing education.

Practical skills

Manage dental disease by applying an evidence-based approach to analysis, diagnosis and treatment.

Manage resources and people (including themselves) within the constraints of the practice environment.

Resolutions for the Bachelor of Oral Health

Undergrad resolutions

Bachelor of Oral Health

[Section 1]

Admission

1.1

Admission to the Bachelor of Oral Health course is based on UAI or tertiary record, completion of the Personal Qualities Assessment (PQA) and attendance at a multiple mini interview (MMI) based on the OSCE format.

Units of study

2.1

The units of study for the degree are set out in Table 1.

2.2

With the permission of the Director of the Oral Health program, and subject to the exigencies of the timetable, a student may take a unit of study not shown on the table and count that unit towards the degree, either as a replacement for a core unit or as an elective unit.

2.3

Table 1: Units of study for the Bachelor of Oral Health

2.3.1

First year units of study

Unit code	Unit name	cp	Assumed knowledge (A), Prerequisite (P), Corequisite (C)
BIOS1156	Human Biology and Radiobiology	6
BIOS1155	Structure Function & disease A	6
ORHL1001	Foundations of Oral Health 1	2
ORHL1005	Introduction to Oral Health Clinical Practice	10
ORHL1003	Foundations of Oral Health 2	6	P: ORHL1001
ORHL1004	Oral Health Clinical Practice 1	12	P: ORHL1002
BACH1161	Health, Behaviour and Society	6

2.3.2

Second year units of study

Unit code	Unit name	cp	Assumed knowledge (A), Prerequisite (P), Corequisite (C)
BIOS3063	Project management and design	6
ORHL2001	Foundations of Oral Health 3	3	P: ORHL1003
ORHL2002	Oral Health Clinical Practice 2	15	P: ORHL1004

BIOS1158	Structure Function & Disease B	6	P:HSBM1002 OR (BIOS1155)
BACH1148	Health, attitudes and interactions	3	P:HSBH1003 OR BACH1161
ORHL2003	Oral Health Clinical Practice 3	15	P: ORHL2002

2.3.3

Third year units of study

Unit code	Unit name	cp	Assumed knowledge (A), Prerequisite (P), Corequisite (C)
ORHL3001	Foundations of Oral Health 4	3	P: ORHL2001
ORHL3002	Oral Health in Society 1	3
ORHL3003	Oral Health Clinical Practice 4	18	P: ORHL2003
ORHL3004	Foundations of Oral Health 5	3	P: ORHL3001
ORHL3005	Oral Health in Society 2	3
ORHL3006	Oral Health Clinical Practice 5	18	P: ORHL3002

Requirements for the Bachelor of Oral Health

4.1

A candidate for the degree shall complete units of study giving credit for 144 credit points.

[Section 2]

Enrolment in more or less than minimum load

5.1

In the first year of attendance candidates, unless granted credit in accordance with these resolutions, shall enrol in all the units of study shown in Table 1 as first year units of study.

5.2

Except with the permission of the Director of the Oral Health program, and subject to the exigencies of the timetable, candidates in subsequent years are to enrol in the maximum number of units for which they have satisfied the prerequisites up to a limit of 52 credit points.

Restrictions on enrolment

6.1

Except with the permission of the Director of the Oral Health program, a candidate may not enrol in a unit of study in a subject area without having previously completed any prerequisite specified for that unit of study, or without also enrolling simultaneously in any corequisite specified for the unit of study.

6.2

A candidate who fails a unit of study may re-enrol in that unit of study, or an equivalent unit of study, only with the permission of the Director of the Oral Health program and under such conditions as the Director may impose.

Suspension of candidature

7.1

The Director of the Oral Health program may permit a candidate to suspend candidature for the degree to take leave of absence.

Re-enrolment after an absence

8.1

The Director of the Oral Health program may specify conditions that a candidate must satisfy before being permitted to resume candidature after suspension or lapse of candidature.

Satisfactory progress

9.1

A candidate who does not complete a unit of study at the second attempt, or who has not completed units of study to a total of 48 credit points in any two consecutive years of enrolment, has not made satisfactory progress.

10.

Assessment policy

10.1

Candidates may be tested by:

10.1.1

A range of formative assessments;

10.1.2

Practicals (including clinicals);

10.1.3

Oral (viva voce) assessment;

10.1.4

Assignments;

10.1.5

Written assignments; or

10.1.6

any combination of these and the results of such tests may be taken into account by the Faculty Board of Examiners in determining the final results in a unit of study.

10.2

In all units of study, the Faculty Board of Examiners may recognise work of a standard higher than that required for an ordinary pass by the award of high distinction, distinction, or credit.

10.3

The Director of the Oral Health program may determine when and how candidates prevented by duly certified illness or misadventure from completing all or part of the assessment in a unit of study are to be tested.

10.4

Candidates who do not pass in a unit of study shall, unless the Director of the Oral Health program exempts them, again attend the learning experiences and complete the prescribed written, practical, clinical and other work and the assessments in the unit of study when they re-enrol in it.

10.5

Candidates who re-enrol in a unit of study after having failed it are not eligible for any prize or scholarship awarded on the basis of performance in that unit of study.

11.

Credit transfer policy

11.1

If, in the opinion of the Director of the Oral Health program, a candidate has previously completed studies that are equivalent to any unit of study, or to part of any unit of study, in Table 1, the Director may grant the candidate credit for that unit of study, or part of it, provided that:

11.1

in the case of holders of the Diploma in Dental Therapy of the Westmead College of Dental Therapy, the total credit point value of the units for which the Director grants credit does not exceed 48;

11.2

in the case of graduates, the total credit point value of the units for which the Director grants credit does not exceed 48;

11.3

in the case of students who have completed studies in another course and have transferred without completing that course, the number of units credited will be determined in accordance with the University of Sydney (Coursework) Rule 2000 (as amended);

11.4

the studies on the basis of which the Director grants the credit were completed not more than two years before admission to candidature.

Units of study 2009

The 2009 units of study for students enrolled in Years 1, 2 and 3 of the course are outlined in the tables below.

Year 1

Semester	Unit of study	Credit points
1	BIOL1003 Human Biology	6
1	BIOS1155 Structure Function & Disease A	6
1	ORHL1001 Foundations of Oral Health 1	2
1	ORHL1005 Oral Health Clinical Practice (Intro)	10
2	BIOS1158 Structure Function & Disease B	3
2	ORHL1003 Foundations of Oral Health 2	6
2	ORHL1004 Oral Health Clinical Practice 1	12

Year 2

Semester	Unit of study	Credit points
1	BIOS3063 Project management and design 1	6
1	ORHL2001 Foundations of Oral Health 3	3
1	ORHL2002 Oral Health Clinical Practice II	15
2	BIOS1158 Structure Function & Disease B	6
2	BACH1148 Health, Attitudes and Interaction	3
2	ORHL2003 Oral Health Clinical Practice III	15

Year 3

Semester	Unit of study	Credit points
1	ORHL3001 Foundations of Oral Health 4	3
1	ORHL3002 Oral Health in Society 1	3
1	ORHL3003 Oral Health in Clinical Practice 4	18
2	ORHL3005 Oral Health in Society 2	3
2	ORHL3004 Foundations of Oral Health 5	3
2	ORHL3006 Oral Health in Clinical Practice 5	18

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