Updates on ADC written and practical examination reference material for general dentistry

Overview

The ADC is updating general dentistry written and practical examination material in line with changes to professional resources and important research outcomes.

This includes:

• the Therapeutic Guidelines – Oral and Dental, Version 3. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited (2019), and
• the development of the revised ADC communication rubric for the practical examination.

The revised documents will be included in ADC assessments:

• for the general dentistry written examination, after the March 2021 written examination
• for the general dentistry practical examination, for all practical examinations taking new applications for 2021. This means that candidates allocated a rescheduled practical examination in early 2021 following COVID-19 postponements, will not be assessed on these new materials.

The table below has been developed to assist general dentistry candidates in identifying which reference material to use for your examination preparation.

Candidates should be considering these revisions when submitting an application for ADC examinations.

The revised ADC communication rubric

The revised ADC communication rubric has been developed in conjunction with consumers through a comprehensive ADC project to ensure candidates are assessed against criteria that accurately represents communication in a dental setting. This project involved extensive consultation with consumers and examiners to clarify the benchmark standard of a recently qualified Australian graduate in communication. This is following research completed by the University of Sydney on Consumer involvement in the design and delivery of examinations and assessments.

This project resulted in the development of a new marking rubric for the assessment of communication in standard OSCE tasks within the clinical skills day of the general dentistry practical examination. The updated rubric can be found here.

The borderline regression established cut-score for the communication cluster for the practical examination will also be adjusted according to the new rubric, to ensure it is in line with the assessment of a recently qualified Australian dental graduate.

Further information on the research conducted by the University of Sydney can be found here.

Further information relating to the benchmarking workshop involving the new rubric and updated passing standard can be found here.