Loading this specialty…
RACDS
When Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery applications run, and what the round looks like.
Applications
Applications are submitted in April. Every document has to be uploaded before 30 April and no extensions are granted.
Most phases are set by month rather than by a fixed date. Only the 30 April upload deadline and the 30 November final offer date are given as days.
Entry comes later than any other surgical specialty, because both a medical and a dental degree have to be complete and registered before an application is possible.
Training positions and workforce figures below are limited to Queensland. Selection criteria, requirements and application dates are set by RACDS nationally and apply in every state.
Very high
How Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery training is structured.
From OMS 1
To complete
To the end of OMS 4
To complete
Foundation Examination
Anatomy and growth, surgical equipment and skills, pharmacology, physiology and pathology, and perioperative care among its eight modules.
Foundation
Fellowship Examination
Advanced
Mandatory research in training
Before Fellowship is awarded
CCrISP, ASSET and EMST, or an equivalent
Named as the RACS skills courses, and required to be eligible to sit.
Before the Fellowship Examination
CLEAR, Critical Literature Evaluation and Research, or the Royal College of Surgeons England postgraduate certificate in research methodology
Either one counts.
Alongside the research requirement
Entry gates that are not scored, such as a visa, residency status, or the type of medical registration required.
One set of categories across every specialty, so two can be compared. Only those with criteria recorded for this specialty are shown.
Total 100%, and no tool can rescue another
Minimum 50%.
At least eight reports, four nominated and four chosen by the committee. Minimum 50%, except for applicants who meet the selection initiative at clause 5.7.1(a).
Minimum 50%, except for applicants who meet the selection initiative at clause 5.7.1(a).
Rotations, logbooks, procedures, and exposure
Selection points and pathways for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Māori applicants
Exams, qualifications, courses, and teaching
Papers, impact factor, audits, and QI
Who is asked to report on you, and what they are asked
Format, stations, and what the interview assesses
How the application is marked and weighted
Registration mechanics and logistics not covered above
Timed steps, grouped by when each one is worth doing.
Before you choose your second degree
During PGY2 and later
And watch the ceiling in the same year
In the five years before you apply
Well before April
Across every rotation
Selection and workforce history, transcribed as published.
10
Training positions
2025 selection year
9
Anticipated posts
2027 intake, across five regions
7 to 19
Range
Across the 2017 to 2025 selection years
A small program with a wide swing in intake — 19 training positions in 2022 against 7 in 2020 and 10 in 2025. The board anticipates 9 posts across five regions for the 2027 intake and notes it is seeking to accredit more positions, so additional posts may become available. From the 2028 selection, marks will no longer be awarded in the structured curriculum vitae score for a dental or medical degree awarded with honours, distinction, credit or Dean's commendation.
Trainees appointed onto the training program, broken down by the region of the position.
| Year | Training positions | NSW/ACT | QLD | SA/TAS | VIC | WA | New Zealand |
|---|
Queensland Health is the only state department publishing these figures so far.
0 / 22Eligible applicants selected, 2026 first-year entry
The college itself
No applicants were selected in the published 2026 Queensland round — 22 were eligible and none appointed, and no new Queensland trainees commenced
Queensland trainee numbers from 2016 to 2026 ran 8, 8, 14, 9, 8, 8, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 12 — the fullest year-by-year series in the source, and one that has held broadly flat for a decade
The Queensland trainee cohort was 78 per cent male and 22 per cent female
Specialist headcount, new fellow numbers and average working hours are not published for this specialty in the Queensland Health source, so no figures are shown for them here
The only specialty on this list outside the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons — training is four years through the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, leading to FRACDS(OMS), and allocation is by the college rather than by a Queensland Health pathway or facility
Changes published by RACDS.
The RACDS Accredited Training in OMS Handbook was updated to version 6.0 (effective 1 February 2026).
RACDS published a new unified OMS Selection Handbook (effective 26 November 2025) consolidating the former separate trainee-selection policy and CV-scoring guidelines. The CV table remains 21 points across 8 categories.
9 posts across 9 hospitals in Queensland. Each circle counts hospitals.
Show these kinds of site
Select a region to see the hospitals inside it. A numbered circle is several too close to draw apart, so open it to zoom in.
Hospital locations © OpenStreetMap contributors. State boundaries from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Published by RACDS and the Medical Board unless stated.
Colleges, portals and rubrics
Connected to this specialty by the Medical Board’s specialty structure, by college, or by a shared training pathway.
Requirements, windows, and criteria change annually. Verify with RACDS before making career decisions. Report an error on this page.
| 2025 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 2023 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2022 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 2021 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2020 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| 2018 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 2017 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
A guide only. The board notes that additional positions may be available, because it is seeking to increase the number of accredited training positions.
| Training region | Anticipated posts |
|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory / New South Wales | 4 |
| Queensland (your selected state) | 1 |
| South Australia / Northern Territory | 0 |
| Victoria / Tasmania | 3 |
| Western Australia | 1 |
Source: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons — Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Past offers by selection year (2017 to 2025), and the anticipated guide to 2027 post vacancies. Figures are transcribed as published.
Check the current figures at RACDS — becoming an oral and maxillofacial surgery specialist.
Queensland Health, medi-nav, 31 July 2026. Selection numbers are for first-year entry and vary year to year.