Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Term

6 months

Each training term, starting early February and early August. Some posts run 12 months

Time limit

8 years

From the start of training, to finish every requirement

Leave

6 weeks

A year at most, every kind of leave together

Part time

50%

Of full time at least, approved in blocks of 12 months

• A term is six months in an accredited post in your training centre. It counts toward the four years only when its six-monthly assessment report is satisfactory
• The 6 weeks cover annual, compassionate, parental, study, examination, personal and carer's leave. More time away needs an approved interruption or extension of leave, from the Board of Studies and your employer

• Accredited sites32 in six training centres, 27 in five centres in Australia and 5 in one centre in Aotearoa New Zealand. A site is one hospital, oral health centre or practice, or two or three hospitals together
• Training centresThe accredited sites of one region, run by its regional surgical committee. You rotate through several posts, since one post seldom gives every part of training
• Your employerThe health service that runs your site employs you, and sets its own employment requirements
• Aotearoa New Zealand5 accredited sites: Christchurch, Hutt and Waikato hospitals, Dunedin with Southland hospitals, and Middlemore with Auckland City hospitals

What every accredited oral and maxillofacial surgery post gives you

On call

1 in 3

The recommended roster, with fatigue managed wherever on call is more often

• Rosters: no more than 70 hours a week on day shifts or 60 on night shifts, averaged over four weeks, with two full days off in a row in every 14 days
• Your rostered hours include time for teaching, research, your workplace assessments, audit and peer review

Supervisor of Training

1

For each post, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, for up to four trainees

Director of Training

1

In each training centre, who appoints you to your posts

• Your Supervisor of Training oversees your term, gives you regular feedback, and writes your midterm and six-monthly reports after asking the other consultants who worked with you

Foundation Examination

Year 1

Sat in your first year, and passed before Year 3

Fellowship Examination

Year 3 or 4

Sat in the final 18 months of training

• The Foundation Examination tests the eight foundation modules, from anatomy to communication, in two 2-hour written papers and eight 15-minute vivas. You must pass the written papers, the vivas, and the anatomy and communication vivas each, at one sitting
• The Fellowship Examination is two 3-hour written papers, six clinical cases, an anatomy viva and three oral and maxillofacial surgery vivas, all passed at one sitting

Assessment reports

2 a term

A midterm report at three months, then a six-monthly report that decides the term

Operative assessments

2 a term

At least, at Level 2 or above. All 21 procedures at Level 4 by the end

Case presentations

10

At least one a term, on ten set topics by the end of training

Team Appraisal of Conduct

1

Once, in Year 3, in the fourth month of a six-month term

• An assessment of operative process is a consultant watching you do one of 21 set procedures, from removing an impacted wisdom tooth to fixing fractures of the jaw and face. Level 4 is the standard of a specialist
• The Team Appraisal of Conduct is anonymous ratings of your work in a team by 8 to 12 doctors, nurses and others, set beside your own self-assessment
• A case presentation is 10 to 15 minutes on a patient you have cared for, starting from your own notes, then feedback. The topics include complex wisdom teeth, implants, facial fractures, jaw deformity and children's craniofacial care

Research requirement

1

A research degree, or a project published as first author, done during training

Presentation

1

An oral presentation at a national or international meeting during training

• The research degree is a Master of Philosophy started within a year of starting training, or a PhD within two years, finished during training. The project is published in a peer-reviewed journal, with a research methodology course

Skills courses

3

ASSETAustralian and New Zealand Surgical Skills Education and Training, the RACS two-day basic surgical skills course, with ten eLearning modules before it., Advanced Trauma Life Support, and Care of the Critically Ill Surgical Patient, by the end of Year 2

• These three RACSRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons courses teach basic surgical skills, the first hours of care after major trauma, and the care of a critically ill surgical patient
• Advanced Trauma Life Support was called Early Management of Severe Trauma until the end of 2025