Melbourne Dental School

Getting Started in Dentistry

Welcome to the Melbourne Dental School!

This page is designed to give you information to help you get started in your undergraduate course.

There are two undergraduate courses in the Melbourne Dental School:

Special Entry Requirements

There are certain requirements in regard to health status, first aid certification, police and working with children checks with which all students entering dentistry courses must comply.

Clinical Placements

Clinical practice is a key element of both the undergraduate courses. All students must undertake placements at metropolitan community health centres and at rural centres during their course. For metropolitan placements you must be prepared to travel some distance from your home each day to reach these placements. For rural placements you will be expected to live for 4 weeks in a rural community in shared accommodation with other students. Students in dentistry courses are expected to treat patients without discrimination. If clinical placements, patient treatment or any of the other course requirements may cause cultural or other issues for you please ensure you have discussed this and sought a solution with a staff member prior to enrolling in the course.

Enrolling in your course

If you are a local student (Australian or New Zealand citizen) and have been made an offer in the VTAC First Round on 20 January 2009, you must complete your online enrolment before 2 February 2009.

If you are a current University of Melbourne student and have been made an internal transfer offer on 20 January you must also complete your change of enrolment before 2 February 2009.

Both undergraduate courses in the Melbourne Dental School are fixed-plan courses so you cannot select subjects. As a new student enrolling on-line you will find that the subjects have already been selected for you in each of the courses.

For help with online enrolment

The University will send you information about how to enrol on-line in your course when you receive your enrolment pack.  If you find you have problems with the online enrolment process, please contact one of the people below from the Melbourne Dental School or speak to University staff in the Enrolment Support Centre.

After you have completed your enrolment, you will need to visit the Enrolment Support Centre to collect your student card, student diary and public transport concession form. The Enrolment Support Centre is located in Wilson Hall (Building 151) and will be open from Tuesday 27 January to Monday 2 February for Round 1 VTAC students.

Deferrals may only be granted in absolutely exceptional circumstances. Generally course deferrals are not accepted in the Melbourne Dental School. Deferment is not allowed in the Bachelor of Dental Science, however, deferment may be considered for students of the Bachelor of Oral Health.

Once you have enrolled in your course you cannot defer, you must take Leave of Absence. Leave of Absence is generally only granted once in any one year of a course so you need to be sure of what you want to do before you actually enroll. Leave of absence is not allowed in the Bachelor of Dental Science, however, Leave of absence may be considered for students of the Bachelor of Oral Health.

SUBJECT CREDIT

Enrolled students with other tertiary studies may be considered for credit exemptions for subjects in the Bachelor of Dental Science or the Bachelor of Oral Health. To qualify for such exemptions the subject(s) and course(s) undertaken must be considered equivalent in content, method of instruction and assessment to those for which credit is being sought and a high academic performance attained. Both the Bachelor of Dental Science and the Bachelor of Oral Health are highly integrated courses and previous studies may not be directly comparable. Therefore, in some instances, credit may not be granted for the whole subject but for components of a subject only.

Applying for Subject Credit: policy document (PDF 17 Kb)

See the Student Forms page for a Credit Exemption application form.

Dean’s Welcome and Academic Orientation Day

Orientation for dentistry courses will be held in the Melbourne Dental School, Jean Falkner Tahija Lecture Theatre, 720 Swanston Street, commencing at 9.00 am on Wednesday 25 February 2009.

Orientation is the official start of the university year, so it is important that you come along. The Head of the Melbourne Dental School, Professor Eric Reynolds AO will welcome you to the School and you will meet the dental lecturers, dental admin staff and other new students on this day. It is essential that you attend as you will find out more about the Melbourne Dental School and be provided with the handbook, lecture timetable and other important information on the day. You will also be photographed on the day for a separate ID card which you must wear when you are in the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne/School building.

When do I start my course?

The teaching year is divided into 2 semesters of approximately 12 weeks each. These are the academic dates for first year in both of the undergraduate dentistry courses:

Semester 1

Semester 2

Additional timetable and other information can be found at: http://www.dent.unimelb.edu.au/dsweb/current_students/info_undergrad.html

Purchase of Dental Instruments and other costs

Students are required to purchase dental equipment approved by the School for use in the laboratories and clinics throughout the course. Some of the equipment will become part of your professional equipment after graduation.

A detailed list for all year levels will be provided at the Dean’s Welcome and Academic Orientation day or you can access this information now from the School’s website at: http://www.dent.unimelb.edu.au/forms/SDS_Course_extra_costs_08.pdf.

As a rough guide, the cost for 1st year students in 2009 will be about $200 for BDSc students and $3,000 for BOH students. The cost for BDSc students increases in 2nd and 3rd years. Students should be prepared to purchase equipment in the first week of the semester. Purchasing is organized by the School at very competitive prices from dental suppliers.

Undergraduate Course Information for Health Sciences 2009

See the 2009 undergraduate Health Sciences Course guide for information on dental and other health science courses. (PDF 2MB)

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