Presentation Description
bree jones1,2
Claire Mustchin3 and Clare McNally2
1 Murdoch Children's Research Institute
2 Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne 3 University Of Melbourne
Claire Mustchin3 and Clare McNally2
1 Murdoch Children's Research Institute
2 Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne 3 University Of Melbourne
Background:
The Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) is a clinically focused, preparation for practice degree. Accreditation by the Australian Dental Council (ADC) ensures graduates have met the professional competencies required to practice dentistry as Oral Health Therapists (OHTs) in Australia and New Zealand.(1) In 2021 a review of the professional competencies coincided with the introduction of full scope oral health therapy into the BOH at the Melbourne Dental School (MDS). This led to a curriculum re-structure aligned to the competencies and the piloting of a programmatic approach to assessment.
The Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) is a clinically focused, preparation for practice degree. Accreditation by the Australian Dental Council (ADC) ensures graduates have met the professional competencies required to practice dentistry as Oral Health Therapists (OHTs) in Australia and New Zealand.(1) In 2021 a review of the professional competencies coincided with the introduction of full scope oral health therapy into the BOH at the Melbourne Dental School (MDS). This led to a curriculum re-structure aligned to the competencies and the piloting of a programmatic approach to assessment.
Summary of Work:
The assessments were developed using the Ottawa Consensus Statement on the Principles of Programmatic Assessment (2), optimising and triangulating data for meaningful feedback and not making high-stakes decisions on a single data point. The assessment types were streamlined across the program in accordance with best practice dental assessments (3). We focused on reflection, digital identity development, task integration, feedback literacy, authenticity, and collaborative learning, with an ePortfolio mapped to the ADC professional competencies as the main assessment piece.
The assessments were developed using the Ottawa Consensus Statement on the Principles of Programmatic Assessment (2), optimising and triangulating data for meaningful feedback and not making high-stakes decisions on a single data point. The assessment types were streamlined across the program in accordance with best practice dental assessments (3). We focused on reflection, digital identity development, task integration, feedback literacy, authenticity, and collaborative learning, with an ePortfolio mapped to the ADC professional competencies as the main assessment piece.
Results:
This assessment approach ensures work ready practitioners with clearly defined scopes of practice and strong skills in reflexive practice and has facilitated the continual improvement and development of skills over time, rather than in isolated, high-stakes assessments.
This assessment approach ensures work ready practitioners with clearly defined scopes of practice and strong skills in reflexive practice and has facilitated the continual improvement and development of skills over time, rather than in isolated, high-stakes assessments.
Conclusions:
Despitethesmallscaleofthispilotprogram,thepositiveresponsefromstudents and staff has led to a whole of School adoption of a programmatic approach as part of the MDS- 25 curriculum redesign.
Despitethesmallscaleofthispilotprogram,thepositiveresponsefromstudents and staff has led to a whole of School adoption of a programmatic approach as part of the MDS- 25 curriculum redesign.
Take-home Messages:
1. Adoption of a programmatic approach to assessment takes requires significant buy in from staff
1. Adoption of a programmatic approach to assessment takes requires significant buy in from staff
2. Professional identity formation and the ability to demonstrate scope of practice is a key advantage of the new MDS assessment program
3. Collaboration within and from outside the institution is critical to the success of a large-scale assessment overhaul.
References (maximum three)
(1) Australian Dental Council (2022) Professional competencies of the newly qualified dental practitioner, www.adc.org.au
(2) Heeneman, S., De Jong, L. H., Dawson, L. J., Wilkinson, T. J., Ryan, A., Tait, G. R., Rice, N., Torre, D., Freeman, A., & Van Der Vleuten, C. P. M. (2021). Ottawa 2020 consensus statement for programmatic assessment – 1. Agreement on the principles. Medical Teacher, 43(10), 1139–1148. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159x.2021.1957088
(3) Williams, J.C., Baillie, S., Rhind, S.M., Warman, S. (2015) A guide to assessment in dental education. The University of Bristol. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.