Graduate Certificate in Dental Therapy (Advanced Clinical Practice)

The Graduate Certificate in Dental Therapy (Advanced Clinical Practice) expands your dental therapy qualifications to the treatment of patients of all ages.

Recent legislative changes have removed age limits, enabling service provision in dental therapy practice to be greatly expanded.

In this course you will advance your skills and learn to treatment plan and provide dental therapy care for people of all ages including the management of medically compromised patients. You will develop an understanding of periodontology and cariology, the evidenced-based use of dental materials, prosthodontics, oral medicine and pharmacology, along with local anaesthesia and, dental emergency management.

All subjects are required to be attempted in the same semester.

The course dates for the 2021 Graduate Certificate in Dental Therapy are:

• Ten weeks of online learning beginning July 14 and running to August 27, 2021.
• All students will be required to attend 10 days of on site clinical component at the Melbourne Dental School. We anticipate this will be held in mid-October, 2021. Dates may be subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are aware that border/travel restrictions are a problem for students and this is interdependent to the changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 10 weeks of clinical experience in own practice settings where at least 102 hours of adult dental therapy practice are to be completed, with the support of a credentialled Clinical Mentor* (dentist or dental therapist/oral health therapist with adult scope qualifications, commencing Monday 6 September and ending Friday 19 November 2021. Some online assessments to be completed during this period
• One week of swot vac, commencing Monday 16 November and ending 20 November 2021
• Three days of assessments, commencing Monday 29 November and ending Friday 3 December 2021.

*Supervisor credentialling requires the mentor/supervisor to undertake an online training module and webinar to prepare for clinical mentoring and assessments. Students will be required to identify a Mentor with their application.

This structure allows participation for clinicians who wish to maintain existing employment. The integration of clinical and didactic elements is important to skill development for participants. Completion of this course will qualify practising dental therapists and oral health therapists to expand service provision to patients of all ages within the scope of dental therapy practice.

The course comprises three subjects: 2 x 12.5 points and 1 x 25 points, totalling 50 points of study.

On completion of this course, students should;

• Have in-depth knowledge and skills in primary, secondary and tertiary oral health care (including oral examination, diagnosis and treatment planning, and clinical therapeutic skills) in order to practise those aspects of dental therapy permitted by the legislation governing dentistry in Australia, for people of all ages
• Be able to recognise the limits of their scope of practice and be able to consult with and refer to other practitioners in their referral network as appropriate
• Be able to provide oral health care that protects and respects people's dignity, autonomy, cultural and social values
• Be able to critically examine, synthesise and evaluate knowledge of their practice and apply it to a broader patient group

It takes about 20 minutes to complete the form using the online application system. You can save your work in progress and complete the application at a later date.