(Edmonton) The University of Alberta's dental students performed strong on the NDEB exam-a requirement for a license to practice dentistry in Canada.
The National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB) was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1952 for the purpose of establishing qualifying conditions for a national standard certificate for dentists. All ten Canadian Provincial Licensing Authorities recognize and participate in the activities of the NDEB and students from all ten Canadian dental schools write this exam each year.
The examination tests foundation science knowledge and applied clinical science knowledge and judgment.
The exam is difficult, bringing together the accumulated knowledge and skills from all four years of the program and students study for months to prepare.
"Our students average on this exam was at the top end of the range," said Steve Patterson, associate chair of academic. "The last few years we have seen fairly consistent performance by our students at this level. These exam scores, plus a recent highly successful accreditation of the dental program tells us that we are preparing our dental students very well for their future contributions to the dental profession."
Patterson notes that the students admitted into dentistry are extremely prepared academically and when they focus and put their mind to something, it's incredible what they can achieve both in their studies and in their patient care.
"We start talking about the NDEB in their first year of dentistry," said Patterson. "They are aware of the high standards required of dental graduates in Canada and they work hard to learn and to prepare for their future practices."
The admission formula for the DDS Program is: 50% overall GPA + 25% DAT (dental admission test) + 25% interview score. He also notes that the class profile for the 2014 admission year had a mean GPA of 3.90.
This year (2014), the program had 429 applications and enrolled 32 students-17 females and 15 males.