The University of Melbourne

Great weather, highly skilled instructors, and reasonable amount of workload. Only thing I dislike is the organization of the material and scheduling, which can get quite messy. Instructors are very knowledgeable and keep up with up-to-date information. Many demonstrators around pre-clinics to help guide your work. Overall good.

University of Melbourne is a large campus with many opportunities to meet new people. There are many social events and free food on campus. However, the environment can be overwhelming especially if you’re moving from a smaller town. This is a challenging program, but one that’ll bring you to a great skill level. This program seems relaxed at the beginning but it unexpectedly accelerates in challenge near the midpoint of the year and stays at that challenging pace. You’ll meet many instructors with many different teaching styles: some are encouraging and helpful while some are strict and critical. The program also provides a lot of opportunities for hands-on learning from the very beginning. You’ll learn about many aspects of dentistry in first year from making a brand new set of dentures to role-playing as a dentist with your colleagues. There will be many new faces, which can be overwhelming. Everyone I’ve met has been friendly but the social environment can be stressful for introverts. You’ll have a lot of new experiences.

Though you’ll be moving to a new continent, integrating into everyday life isn’t too difficult. Try reaching out to other international students for advice (about public transport, what the major grocery stores are, and which residence buildings are better than others). You could also try to reach out to people in the program before the course begins. You’ll have a familiar face there with you right away.

Various libraries to study at, good sense of community, fun events to attend. Knowledgeable instructors, lots of hands-on sessions, immersive learning, steep learning curve. Try to participate in as much clubs events as you can at first and find your group of friends. Find your ideal study spots.

If your struggling staff is always there to support you and help you get through the program. Lots of early hands on learning which is great. Course structure and timetabling are inconsistent and there are lots of changes being made throughout the year sometimes only a few days in advance. It is a good program and staff are there to support you when you need it. Overall it’s a decent program.  If you truly want to be a dentist, take the risk and come to Australia! It is stressful, and scary but it’s been an incredible adventure. Aside from the school, it has been the most transformative experience in terms of personal growth. There will be ups and downs but you will meet so many amazing people who become family and are going through the same things. These people will support you and help you through!

Melbourne Dental School runs a very solid program. We got early clinical exposure starting second year (seeing patient starting second year) while most programs here start their clinical during third year. It’s a privilege to be here honestly. All my professors and mentors are very knowledgeable and approachable and provided me with lots of guidance. Dentistry is by no doubt a challenging profession, but I’m glad I’m in a program with lots of supportive peers (lots of Canadians, yah!!!!), which helps me power through. The administrative side of school could have been better though. But again, nothing is perfect.

Melbourne has very nice facilities. Most labs are new and demonstrators are awesome. We don’t have much practice time for simulation clinic outside of scheduled hours so that’s a downside.

Unimelb has Stop 1 which is really resourceful as an international student. They’re practically able to answer and resolve all concerns – different to what I experienced at [my Canadian university] where I had to contact different departments for different conflicts. Unimelb’s dental program has a lot of hands on experience which is different compared to most other universities. Timetable/scheduling is a bit disorganized due to the system they use (excel). No regrets!

Melbourne dental school is fun! Cohort is very nice and supportive. Facilities are pretty good, although I couldn’t find that many library to study in, but overall Unimelb is pretty good!

Great cohort size, almost evenly split between Aussies and Canadians. There are lots of hands-on preclinical sessions (but I still wish there were more!). The demos are very approachable and are here to help you succeed. It is a hard course but you need to know when to reach out when you need help. In first year I would highly recommend taking time to get to know your classmates. You will be seeing each other almost everyday through classes, around the city, at social events, etc. So I highly encourage first years to attend as many social gatherings as they can in first year! Lots of free food events and social activities to participate in! The campus itself is gorgeous. Wish the gym membership was included.

The facilities are really good! Maybe just the computer lab can be more upgraded. Everything about it is good. It is important to stay on track but it is also important to have fun during the process.

I like the area the university is in, I also like the faculty staff who are very understanding and helpful. The dental school isn’t very accommodating to international students, especially considering we make up half the cohort. I like that it’s a combination of both the scientific and technical aspects of things but dentistry is also a very creative profession. Some days it feels like I’m in art school! All the instructors in the first year are very keen to help you succeed. What I dislike about the program is its lack of organization. The timetables are always released last minute, and there have been many errors.

Like – the new university facilities and location close to the city centre. The instructors are really nice and keen to answer your questions. We  have loads of online and asynchronous lectures and classes this year and I wish we had more in person!

Some lecturers are very knowledgeable and willing to help as much as they can. Hands on experience very early in the program was good. We have to pay for our own dental equipment when a lot of US and Canadian schools have it incorporated in the tuition. Have fun when you’re here! Uni Melb and probably the other Australian universities has lots of breaks/holidays allowing you to relax and explore the city more. Be prepared for lots of lectures, labs, and tutorials and try not to fall behind because it’s hard to come back. It’s a lot different from undergrad where sometimes there a few lectures to teach a whole concept whereas in dental school the concept is taught in one lecture, so the amount of information that we have to know is a lot more than undergrad.

I like the resources and commitment available. I wish the school/program was more organized. I love my class and the diversity.

Likes: location, accessibility, transportation, adequate class size, low to moderate stress level. Dislikes: poor administration in some areas; lack of didactic course materials; rushed schedules.

[I like the ] Campus, Program, People. I like the hands on aspect of [Dentistry]. As with all programs, the administrative/organizational side of things could definitely be improved.

Good staff, early hands on experience and pre clinical hours, no open lab hours/clinic hours. Class size is good, course material is relevant, teaching methods are okay all lectures are mainly pre recorded and some of them are bad quality. But flexibility to complete content on your own time helps with having a job.

Teachers are top tier. Teaching Facilities are good. There are so many place to eat around campus. There are always activities going on to connect students out side the classroom.

Expectations are higher than you may be used to in an undergraduate. Dental school is tough. Class size is good at around 90ish. Mix of caring and awful teachers. Mostly caring and great but the ones that are not great stand out. LOTS of material to cover and little time to do even some of the recommended reading. 1st year is all base knowledge.

I love it! It has an amazing hands-on program with great professors. The University campus is also very beautiful.

University of Melbourne is amazing. It’s very comprehensive and have most of specializations. Professors are great and highly knowledgeable, experienced and helpful! The school has access to a dental hospital which makes it even more desirable to study dentistry here as you get such more in-depth experience during your clinical sessions. The program is amazing! they recently made it full-year terms instead of semesters. This is very good as it allows students to connect and better related the course material together. amazing professors! they are very knowledgeable and highly experienced as well as being very approachable and supportive.

I like it because they emphasize clinical work, and really want us to push ourselves to be the best clinicians possible. Educating students is one thing, but to inspire students to reach a certain level of clinical excellence is a whole new ball game. I’m living the dream every single day that I wake up. How many people can say that!

I really love UniMelb, the campus is gorgeous and the atmosphere is great. It’s a world renowned university and I am proud to be a student here. Only downfall is that there is not a lot of student spaces in the Dental Hospital for us to study or relax, since it is shared with all other staff working in the hospital. I am enjoying my program a lot, it’s intense but manageable in my opinion. I love the mix of hands-on labs/simulation clinic, and the education side learning about diseases and treatments; etc. We are very advanced in terms of exposure to patients and simulation clinic, in comparison to other Canadian/American universities which is amazing. The administration is a little disorganized, as they are constantly changing our schedule which can be frustrating at times.

I like that UoM focuses a lot on clinical practice. But they also focus a lot on theoretical knowledge in order for us to become knowledgeable and practical clinicians. This university definitely sets students up for returning back to Canada such as my colleague.

My experience at the Dentistry program at the University of Melbourne has been wonderful so far. The cohort is relatively small at around 100 students so you get to know most of the people in your program. There are also plenty of Canadians to ease the potential struggle of being away from home. The program while demanding, does afford you the time to enjoy what Melbourne has to offer. It has a nice balance of theory mixed in with practical application of dentistry skills.

The program has been a really smooth transition from undergrad. The pre-clinical experience has been challenging but great and the facilities are top notch. Exams are fair and I really feel like I am learning a lot. Professors are approachable and care about student progress and learning.

Studying at the University of Melbourne gave me an opportunity to travel to another continent and experience a different culture without having to take a break from school. The highlight of my degree was when I entered my second year and began seeing my first patients. It was daunting at first to be seeing real patients, but it was also exciting to be able to use what we have been learning for the past year.