The School of Dentistry in Western Australia developed a pregraduation intern year in which final-year students, having completed their didactic education, undertook a focused clinical experiential program (CEP) over an extended year. This program was implemented for the first time in 2002. The aim of this study was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum as perceived by graduates and to compare the perceptions of those graduates who did the CEP to those who did not. A survey with questions based on the graduate outcomes of the dental school was mailed to all graduates from 2000, 2001 (did not complete CEP), and 2004 (completed CEP). The response rate was 66 percent (n=57) and included twenty-nine respondents who graduated before implementation of the CEP and twenty-eight who completed the CEP. Most respondents (80 percent) were in the twenty to twenty-nine age group, and there were slightly more males (53 percent). Learning outcome items with the highest mean scores were practicing universal precautions (4.2), behaving ethically (4.2), and demonstrating a satisfactory level of core dental knowledge (4.2). Practical skills outcomes with the highest scores were amalgam restorations (4.

COVID-19 has altered public health higher education and its impact on pedagogy will be felt long into the future. In response to social distancing measures, teaching academics implemented a number of changes to curricula. It is important to better understand and begin to evaluate these changes, as well as set a course for future changes to public health curricula both during and after the pandemic to best enable transformative learning. Teaching academics have an understanding of academic hierarchies and student perceptions and are well placed to provide insights into current and future changes to pedagogy in response to the pandemic. A survey was developed to examine changes that academics had made to their teaching in response to COVID-19. Responses were received from 63 public health teaching academics from five universities in Australia, the United States, and Canada. Public health teaching academics rapidly implemented a number of changes to their teaching, including alterations that enabled online teaching. The great majority of changes to teaching were related to tools or techniques, such as synchronous tutorials delivered in a video meeting room. There remains further work for the public health pedagogy community in reevaluating teaching aims and teaching philosophies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This could include examination of the weighting of different topics, including communicable diseases, in curricula. A series of questions to assist academics reformulating their curricula is provided. Public health teaching evolved rapidly to meet the challenges of COVID-19; however, ongoing adaptation is necessary to further enhance pedagogy.

Background: Forces influencing the remodelling of medical curricula have clouded the visibility of pathology teaching yet its mastery is central to the study of medicine. The shortage in the workforce available for routine clinical diagnosis, research and teaching, and increasing student numbers have driven the development of innovative teaching methods. Aims: To develop teaching methods which improved student satisfaction and engagement in their learning of pathology, and which also accommodated larger classes. Methods: An iterative development cycle adopting effective use of the web and sound instructional design pedagogies was followed. Two face-to-face formats, i.e. small group and large group, and a self-directed web-based (online) format were implemented on a cohort of 220 third year medical students. Outcomes were evaluated by analysis of a student preceptions questionnaire and of students' web footprints in the online resource. Results: Themes relating to teaching techniques, learning preferences and accessibility issues emerged as significant in the students' perceptions. Measures of user ''online avidity'', ''case breadth compliance'' and ''formative assessment compliance/ diligence'' were determined by comparing historical behaviour in the web resource with patterns of use within these modules. Students who were proven avid online users entered the resource more frequently than less avid users. However less avid online users did not necessarily access a narrower breadth of cases than avid online users. Students who made maximal use of the web formative assessments tended to have better summative outcomes. Conclusions: The students adopted the online resource as a learning tool. The optimal combination of small group face-to-face tutorials and the self-directed web-based (online) format improved pathology teaching, partly because it satisfied a broader range of learning styles in students. The cycle used of develop, implement, evaluate was successful as it engaged the students, was evidence based and driven by discipline experts who were commited teachers.

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For dental education to continue to grow in Australia, there is a need to understand the effect of new innovations and to reflect on the way the profession as a whole has adapted to the highly innovative environment that is modern dental education. The Australian Dental Council's (ADC) accreditation activities for undergraduate dental programs is one constant over the last ten years that can be used to provide some insight into the reactions of schools to threats and opportunistic solutions brought about by change. In this study, accreditation reports were analyzed to provide trends in the themes of accreditation findings over the last ten years. The hypothesis was that the themes emanating from the findings of accreditation will reflect changes over time as schools have adapted to the changing higher education environment. A total of 820 recommendations were collated from twentyone reports. From the recommendations collated, a series of themes were identified; predominant themes included staff, external relationships, funding, structure, documentation, curriculum, and communications. No clear trends in terms of recommendations were noted over the study period, and themes remained fairly consistent over the years. The outcome of the study did not support the hypothesis that changing trends in accreditation recommendations over the last ten years would reflect changes in the environment in which education providers are operating.