Professional competences and the dental curriculum: a view from “Down Under”

Abstract

Contemporary dental education requires a student-centred, competence-based curriculum that facilitates training for our next generation of practitioners, emphasising in particular their roles as clinician scientists, critical thinkers, oral health team leaders and lifelong learners. In this article, Peter Thomson presents a view of dental education from “Down Under” and reviews the Australian Dental Council’s 2023 approach to defining the professional competences required of newly qualified dental practitioners, reflecting on how dental curricula must continually change and adapt to deliver the precise knowledge and skills required of modern dental practitioners.