The Council has completed the accreditation review of the University of Otago undergraduate programmes for dentistry, oral health and dental technology.
The Council considered the site evaluation team’s accreditation report and the Australian Dental Council/ Dental Council (NZ) Accreditation Committee’s recommendations.
University of Otago undergraduate programmes
Overall, the review team found the undergraduate programmes have continued to provide appropriate education and training for students to attain the necessary competencies and substantially meet the benchmark accreditation standards.
Areas where the programmes need to strengthen student clinical experience and manage transition arrangements for the new clinics (Dunedin and Auckland) have been identified. Accreditation has been granted subject to the programmes meeting a number of conditions, particularly for the BDS programme, within defined time frames.
The following programmes were granted accreditation subject to conditions until 31 December 2024:
- Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery with Honours (BDS(Hons))
- Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH)
- Bachelor of Dental Technology and Bachelor of Dental Technology with Honours.
The full accreditation report containing details of the review and the conditions that have been imposed on the programmes is available on our website.
University of Otago postgraduate programmes
The DClinDent (oral medicine) programme was accredited with a shorter accreditation period until end of 2019 subject to certain conditions. The programme has now met all the conditions that it could practically meet, and at its December meeting the Council extended the DClinDent (oral medicine) programme’s accreditation period until 31 December 2023, similar to the other postgraduate programmes. One assessment related condition remains open during its next student intake, and medicine-related clinical experience will require ongoing reporting.
The DClinDent (special needs dentistry) programme has continued to work hard to meet conditions, with further reporting on the clinical outplacements due early next year. The faculty of dentistry, the special needs dentistry programme and the Council worked together to monitor developments in these areas. Progress against the outstanding conditions will be considered by the Council early next year, with the programme currently accredited until 31 March 2020.
