Dental Medicine

Doctor of Dental Medicine

Overview

The Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) is a professional postgraduate coursework degree, set at the master’s degree level because it accepts only graduates and uses postgraduate learning and teaching principles and methods. It is the initial professional entry degree to register as a dentist. The DMD fits within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) specifications for the Masters Degree (Extended). The DMD is distinct from the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (DClinDent) which is the specialist degree following on from the first professional degree.

The duration of the course is four years and requires a previous bachelor's degree and, commencing in 2013, Human Biology to the equivalent of the University of Sydney BIOL1003. The DMD is open to applicants who have completed a bachelor's degree in any discipline from an accredited university, including international institutions. Graduates of the DMD program will be fully qualified to practice dentistry upon completion of the degree, as well as being eligible to sit for the Dental Examining Board of Canada (DEB) examination to practice as a dentist (in Canada).

Please note there is no provision to transfer to the DMD from a dentistry degree conducted at another university as candidates are required to have a completed an undergraduate degree to be eligible to apply for the DMD. The faculty does not conduct bridging courses for overseas trained dentists. If you wish to apply for the DMD, you are required to complete the full four year program.
There are no credits granted for previous study.

Applicants include from local and international students who have demonstrated academic excellence, adhere to the highest levels of professionalism and are keen to develop leadership capacity. The Federal Government is currently considering how it will provide long-term funding of postgraduate programs across the entire tertiary sector, and the outcomes of this review may impact the extent to which the Faculty of Dentistry can continue to offer commonwealth supported places (CSP) in the DMD for domestic students commencing in 2014. Until the University knows the Government's final policy on this issue, information on the availability of CSPs in the DMD for commencing domestic students in 2014 is not able to be provided. Applicants can still nominate for a CSP place and updates will be provided when known on the Faculty of Dentistry website.

Course outcomes

In recent years, the roles of the dental health care provider have changed considerably. Effective preventive measures, rapid advances in biomedical and genetic research and the development of new dental technologies and materials are just some of the factors that have altered the scope and challenges of modern dentistry. The aging of the population has led to an increase in chronic and multi-system illness and an associated increase in complex pharmacological management. There is also an increasing expectation that all health care providers adopt an evidence-based approach, ensuring that their patients receive the most effective treatment available.

The Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) recognises these professional needs in the design and content of the DMD and also recognises academic maturity and graduate outcomes that students with a previous bachelors' degree possess in order to build on these qualities to:

• gain, qualitatively and quantitatively, greater patient-based experience
• support research-informed decisions through critique of available information and defend their treatment decisions as the most appropriate under the unique circumstances as presented by individual patients
• equip students with the confidence to accept supervised clinical responsibilities away from the parent institution and to embark on national and international electives from the end of Year 2 onwards
• develop leadership skills which distinguish University of Sydney graduates and contribute to the dental profession, academia and public health service as ambassadors, community educators and promoters of heath at community level
• in addition to professional and ethical values, enhance a social conscience and a sense of social responsibility and cultural awareness
• instil a passion for lifelong learning through a critical approach to learning and opportunities for self-evaluation.

Features of the program

The Doctor of Dental Medicine is based on a full recognition of the greater level of academic maturity and higher level analytical, clinical and communication skills of postgraduate students. This allows for higher order learning with a greater emphasis on independent, self-directed study. Consequently it is expected that students will achieve quantitatively and qualitatively greater clinical ie patient based experience.

Important features of the DMD include:

• focusing on the relevance of medical sciences to oral health and to dental practice
• earlier patient-based clinical experience and increased clinical experience to be obtained in clinics in metropolitan, rural and remote areas
• science-based pre-requisite coursework
• utilising contemporary teaching and learning methods aligned to a course at a master's degree level, with emphasis on electronic resources and learner–centred studies to provide the foundation material/knowledge, supported by tutorials to facilitate understanding and reflection
• development of graduates who consistently display higher-order cognitive skills to synthesise, integrate and translate research and knowledge to communication and clinical skills, and practice dentistry at the highest professional and ethical level
• a defined research component as foundation to an evidence-based approach to professional practise, clearly distinguishing the education from a skills-based approach. Furthermore this will prepare students for higher degree research studies and possible careers in research and/or academia
• the development of leadership skills which distinguish the Sydney graduates and their contribution to the dental profession, academia and public health services
• exposure, either in person or through mentoring, to international oral health activities.