Strategies, challenges and change management in program-wide dental curriculum reform.

Clare McNally is an Associate Professor of Oral Health and the Academic Lead for Assessment and Evaluation at the Melbourne Dental School. Clare is a change agent, responsible for assessment reform as part of the MDS25 curriculum redesign.

By developing a programmatic approach to assessment and introducing an entrustable professional activity framework, Clare will ensure the Melbourne Dental School (MDS) is a global leader in dental education and assessment.
Clare is also the Bachelor of Oral Health final year coordinator. This is a work-integrated learning (WIL) year where students are out on clinical placements. Clare is focused on ensuring they remain connected as a community of learners despite not being on-site together at the University.
Clare's PhD (Medicine) at the University of Adelaide explored the relationship between oral health and systemic health in hospitalised older people. She currently works for Dental Health Services Victoria in the Oral Medicine Department helping patients with significant mucosal diseases prevent common dental conditions. She will be expanding her research in this area in 2024.

Dr. Uyan, an Associate Professor of the Comprehensive Oral Health Department, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Adams School of Dentistry (ASOD), is currently serving as the Predoctoral Generalist Program Director. In this role, she has been collaborating with the curriculum leadership and clinical team in preparing faculty and residents to teach in general dentistry clinic, overseeing coordination of generalist faculties and office teams since the implementation process began in 2019.

Following her 20 years of private practice experience, Dr. Uyan is now focusing her efforts on educational and curricular advancement in assessment frameworks in dental education and she has recently completed " UMC Utrecht- Ins and Outs of Entrustable Professional Activites" training. She has been speaking about the new assessment framework in several platforms including “Calibration in Assessment of Clinical Encounters Using Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)” in ADEA 2023 Annual Session & Exhibition and “Analyzing Longitudinal Data on Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)” in ADEA 2024 Annual Session & Exhibition.

Since joining the UNC ASOD in 2019, Dr. Uyan is providing oral health care to her patients in the Dental Faculty Practice focusing on restorative and general dentistry. She is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists and active member of several professional organizations, including the American Dental Association, American Dental Education Association, International College of Prosthodontists, International Team for Implantology and North Carolina Dental Society.

Rocio Quinonez is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentist and a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. She holds joint appointments in the Division of Pediatric Dentistry and Public Health and the Department of Pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine. She has served as Predoctoral Program Director in Pediatric Dentistry (2007-2017). In 2018, she became the Associate Dean for Educational Leadership and Innovation at UNC and was tasked to lead a new dental curriculum for the Adams School of Dentistry. Her current role transitioned to Associate Dean for Curriculum to better reflect the implementation process of the new program of study. She has authored over 100 peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and is the recipient of the American Academy of Pediatrics National Oral Health Service Award and the Charles Craig National Teaching Award.

Pam Robertson is a Research Fellow at the Assessment and Evaluation Research Centre, The University of Melbourne and works on projects relating to assessment (both large-scale and classroom) and the use of assessment data to inform decision-making. She is experienced in the development, validation and evaluation of assessment materials tailored for specific purposes.

She has been involved in numerous projects, both within Australia and internationally, involving formative uses of assessment data, judgement-based assessment and the alignment of assessment and curricula. Pam has experience with projects related to curriculum and assessment, especially those focused on improvements through the use of learning progressions, which was also the topic of her PhD.
Within her role at the University of Melbourne, Pam is also the Australian Deputy Director of the Assessment, Curriculum and Technology Research Centre, a joint program with the University of the Philippines. This role involves conducting educational research to advise and inform Philippine education and building capacity in educational research within the Philippines. She also teaches subjects in the areas of assessment within both award and non-award programs. Pam has previously been a teacher of maths and science and has co-authored multiple physics texts.