Head of School's welcome
Welcome to the School of Dentistry and Oral Health at Latrobe University.
This is the first rural and regional dental school in Australia and is at the forefront of dental education. We have or will have superb facilities for preclinical and clinical education, and these are spread across the State of Victoria.
We aim to be a major factor in the improvement of the oral health for Victorians, and we are committed to working effectively with the public dental services of Victoria.
We support our mission by preferentially recruiting rural and regional students. School leavers in 2009 received from 5 to 10 ENTER points added to their score, and we intend to increase this loading for 2010. Non-school leavers will be in required to take the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test (UMAT) and we will also add regional and rural loading to the UMAT scores.
Student experience is intended to be very different from the traditional capital city model. In the first two years, there is a rapid introduction to clinical dentistry by simulation, and in the third, fourth and fifth years, students will rotate around the state to the major clinics of Mildura, Melton, and Wodonga and then on to smaller clinics. You will need a laptop and a kit bag for the last two years of the course.
We are developing accommodation at each of the sites, and it is our intention that students will be able to have prearranged accommodation for a modest fee.
You should be reassured that the School is on track for full accreditation with the Australian Dental Council, and it is the primary objective of the academic staff that the accreditation process continues in this timely manner.
So, in summary, please consider La Trobe if you wish to part of a radical school focused on the improvement of oral health for rural and regional Victorians.
