Media Releases
Celebrating 10 years of ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø Dentistry
·¬ÇÑÉçÇø’s Cairns-based dentistry school is celebrating 10 years of teaching, and 385 graduate dentists – with more to come in December.
“Ours was the first dental school in Australia to be based outside of a major city, making it an important milestone for dental education and training in Australia,” Professor Richard Murray, Dean of the College of Medicine and Dentistry said.
In 2009 ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø Cairns welcomed the first cohort of 67 students to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery – selected from a highly competitive pool of more than 600 applicants.
Since 2013, when the first graduation ceremony was held, the program has produced 385 graduates. Nine of those are Indigenous graduates, making ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø Dentistry a key provider of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dentists nationally.
“We are proud to say that our graduates have the knowledge and skills to provide dental health care in a variety of settings, including rural, remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,” Professor Murray said.
The dentistry teaching building at ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø’s Smithfield campus includes an 80-chair dental simulation laboratory, prosthodontics facilities, and science and anatomy laboratories.
Since 2012 the ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø Dental Clinic in Cairns has provided low-cost dentistry services to more than 63,000 patients. Senior students gain practical experience at the clinic, under the supervision of experienced dentists. The Townsville ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø Dental Clinic opened in 2014.
In 10 years, ·¬ÇÑÉçÇø Dentistry has positioned itself as number one in Australia for full-time employment after graduation and the highest graduate salary* and has achieved five stars for student experience* and graduate satisfaction.**
[*The Good Universities Guide 2019; ** Quality Indicators for learning and Teaching 2018.]