Program Overview

---

Program Description

The Specialist Training in Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine is a 5-year full-time study program that provides training in health communication, giving students the competence to inform, guide, and teach healthcare workers both within and outside the dental health service.

Admission Requirements

The admission requirements for the program are:

• Norwegian authorization as a dentist
• At least 2 years of experience from general practice

Target Group

The target group for the program is dentists with an interest in examining and treating patients with oral surgical and oral medical problems.

Application Code

The application code for the program is 3120.

What Will You Learn?

The program provides students with a comprehensive education in oral surgery and oral medicine, including:

• Diagnostics and surgical/medical treatment of diseases in the oral cavity, jaws, and surrounding areas of the face
• Planning of dental treatment, health economics, and epidemiology
• Pedagogical training, as specialists are expected to be able to provide health education and participate in teaching, training, and guidance of other healthcare personnel
• Critical evaluation of methods and techniques within the specialty

Learning Outcomes

After completing the study program, students will have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge:

• Can act as a professional practitioner of the specialty towards patients and colleagues
• Has in-depth knowledge of basic oral biology, including saliva, teeth, and tooth-bearing structures, masticatory apparatus, and surrounding structures, anatomy, physiology, pathology, and craniofacial developmental biology
• Has comprehensive knowledge of pharmacology, including drug side effects that may have consequences for diseases in the oral cavity and drugs that can affect the drugs used in treatment
• Has comprehensive knowledge of immunological processes, diseases that are immunologically conditioned, and treatment with drugs that affect the inflammation process
• Has comprehensive knowledge of microbiology and diseases that are microbiologically conditioned
• Has comprehensive knowledge of diseases that are genetically conditioned
• Can principles of temporomandibular joint surgery
• Has knowledge of statistics and research methods to plan, conduct, evaluate, and interpret their own specialist project, as well as analyze statistical methods and interpretation in scientific articles
• Has comprehensive knowledge of current national and international professional literature and can critically evaluate it
• Can provide patients with evidence-based diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up
• Can provide patients with ethically justifiable diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up

Skills:

• Can diagnose diseases in teeth, jaws, and surrounding structures
• Can identify indications and contraindications for surgical treatment
• Can evaluate laboratory tests (microbiology, hematology, pathology)
• Can perform all types of surgical interventions in teeth, jaws, and surrounding structures
• Can critically evaluate professional literature
• Can receive referred patients for consultation, advanced diagnosis, and necessary surgical treatment
• Can perform all types of dentoalveolar procedures
• Can treat all types of jaw/face injuries, tooth injuries, and soft tissue injuries in the mouth and face
• Can perform the surgical part of oral implant prosthesis
• Can perform soft tissue plastics and jaw bone reconstruction
• Can, in collaboration with other specialists, investigate and analyze bite/jaw anomalies and perform corrective surgical interventions on the jaws
• Can diagnose and perform conservative treatment of temporomandibular joint diseases
• Can perform puncture procedures such as injections in the temporomandibular joint
• Can investigate, diagnose, and treat orofacial pain in collaboration with other dental and medical disciplines and can participate in multidisciplinary pain teams
• Can diagnose and treat oral mucosal diseases in collaboration with medical specialties within dermatology, ENT, allergology, immunology, infectious medicine, rheumatology, internal medicine, and pediatrics
• Can diagnose, including taking biopsies, and surgically treat benign tumors, including all odontogenic tumors
• Can participate in multidisciplinary teams for the treatment of malignant tumors in the mouth, head, and neck region with tasks related to resection, reconstruction, and rehabilitation
• Can treat patients with complex general medical background and are able to diagnose oral manifestations of various general diseases
• Can prescribe and safely administer all medications that are relevant in dentistry
• Can plan, conduct, and evaluate their own research projects and present this in writing and orally

General Competence:

• Can collaborate with other specialties (teamwork)
• Can present the field to other personnel groups and audiences
• Can provide advice/guidance to colleagues within the field of oral surgery and oral medicine
• Can provide further education courses for all dental health personnel
• Can provide clinical guidance to students and specialist candidates in oral surgery and oral medicine

Job Prospects

Specialists in oral surgery and oral medicine can work in private practice, at competence centers, in hospitals, and in academia.

Degree

The completed study program provides a basis for applying to the Directorate of Health for approval as a specialist in oral surgery and oral medicine. Admission to the specialist program requires a degree in dentistry or a master's degree in odontology.

Program Structure

The structure of the study can be seen in the courses that can be taken in this program.

Study Plan

The study plan for the specialist training in oral surgery and oral medicine includes a range of courses and clinical training.

Language of Instruction

The language of instruction is mainly Norwegian or Scandinavian, but some subjects may also be taught in English. The professional literature will be in English, Norwegian, or Scandinavian. The examination language is Norwegian.

Teaching and Assessment

The theoretical education consists of courses, lectures, and seminars. Presentation of own treatment planning takes place in seminar form. All courses and seminars are part of a schedule and are mandatory. In addition, the theoretical education requires self-study of relevant literature for the field. Theoretical courses at the specialist level and general basic courses shared with other specialist trainings at IKO/TkNN correspond to 30 credits (800 hours).

The clinical part of the training takes place partly at the Dental Health Service's Competence Center for Northern Norway (TkNN) and partly at the University Hospital of Northern Norway or at the Nordland Hospital in Bodř. Here, the candidate will both treat their own patients under guidance and assist other specialists (dental and medical specialists) during treatment.

The clinical specialist training in oral surgery and oral medicine is part of the specialist training at the Department of Clinical Dentistry, UiT, TkNN, and UNN. Parts of the specialist service may be placed at the Nordland Hospital in Bodř. IKO is responsible for supervising the implementation of the program and ensuring that the professional content of the program maintains an adequate level.

During the hospital service, the candidate must have a total of at least 10 months of side training in areas of importance for the specialty:

• 2 months General medicine
• 2 months ENT
• 2 months Plastic surgery
• 2 months General anesthesia (possibly nitrous oxide course and 1 month anesthesia)
• 2 months General surgery/orthopedic surgery (possibly war surgery and 1 month surgery)

Practice

The clinical training involves patient treatment with guidance. It is required to document that the candidate has participated in all parts of the specialist training. All patient treatment must be documented. At the final examination, the candidate must present a certain number of well-documented cases from their own patient treatment, collected in a portfolio. This portfolio must document that the candidate has performed treatment of complex cases with great variation.