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BY-LAWS REGARDING EXAMINATIONS AND ASSESSMENTS
Effective November 1, 2009
Please note that By-laws 11, 16, 17 and 18 apply only to Graduates of Non-Accredited Dental Programs
9.00 CERTIFICATION ELIGIBILITY
9.01 For the purposes of these By-laws,
“Accredited Program” means an undergraduate dental program recognized through an accreditation process approved by the Board or a mutual recognition agreement approved by the Board.;
“Non-Accredited Program” means an undergraduate dental program that has not been recognized through an accreditation process approved by the Board or a mutual recognition agreement approved by the Board.
“Certificate” means the certificate of qualification in the form prescribed by the Board and issued by the Board pursuant to An Act to Incorporate the National Dental Examining Board of Canada, 1952, 1 Eliz. II, c. 69, as amended;
“Written Examination” means the Written Examination set by the Board and described in By-law 13.00;
“OSCE” means the Objective Structured Clinical Examination set by the Board and described in By-law 14.00;
“Qualifying Program” means a Qualifying or Degree Completion Program for graduates of non-accredited university-based undergraduate dental programs which has been approved through accreditation established by the Board with reference to accreditation by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada or the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation;
“Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program” or “General Practice Residency Program” means a post graduate dental program approved through accreditation established by the Board with reference to the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation;
“Dental Residency Program” means a post graduate dental program approved through accreditation established by the Board with reference to the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada;
“Board Equivalency Process” means an assessment process established by the Board to determine whether a person is equivalent to a graduate of an Accredited Program;
9.02 For the purposes of these By-laws, “candidate” means a person who has applied in writing to the Board and who has demonstrated that they are:
- a person who is a graduate of an Accredited Program and not more than 60 months has elapsed since the date of graduation;
- a person who is a graduate of a Non-Accredited Program and who has successfully completed a Qualifying Program and not more than 60 months has elapsed since the date of such successful completion of a Qualifying Program;
- a person who is a graduate of a Non-Accredited Program and who has successfully completed the Board Equivalency Process; or
- for the purpose of taking the Written and OSCE Examinations described in By-laws 13.01 to 14.04, a person who is within three months of his or her expected graduation from an Accredited Program, or a Qualifying Program.
9.03 Persons who are more than 60 months from the date of their graduation from an Accredited Program or successful completion of a Qualifying Program respectively, may apply to the Board for special consideration to be a candidate. Such applications will be considered on an individual basis and the determination of the Board, or the Executive Committee acting for the Board, will be based upon the circumstances applicable to each individual applicant.
9.04 Persons described in By-law 9.02 D will be required to provide the Board with written documentation from the Dean of the Accredited Program or Qualifying Program in which they are enrolled confirming their status of being within three months of expected graduation or successful completion of the programs on the date established for the examinations.
9.05 A person shall be ineligible to take an examination or to be granted a Certificate if the person’s licence to practise dentistry is suspended or cancelled, or if the person is on probation within any licensing jurisdiction.
10.00 The Board's Certificate
10.01 Persons who are candidates under By-laws 9.02 A, 9.02 B, 9.02 C, 9.02 D or 9.03 shall be granted a Certificate by the Board upon fulfillment of the following conditions:
- Proper application to the Board which includes, if applicable, providing evidence to the satisfaction of the Board that the candidate is considered in good standing with all Licensing/Regulatory Authorities in all jurisdictions in which the candidate has been or is currently registered or licensed or in which the candidate has been practicing regularly;
- Successful graduation from an Accredited Program or successful completion of a Qualifying Program; and
- Successful completion of the Written Examination described in By-laws 13.01 to 13.04 and the OSCE described in By-laws 14.01 to 14.04.
10.02 Persons who successfully complete the Written and OSCE Examinations prior to graduation from an Accredited Program or completion of a Qualifying Program and who do not subsequently graduate from an Accredited Program or who do not complete a Qualifying Program in the same year, will have their Written and OSCE Examination results held valid for 18 months. Such candidates will be granted a Certificate by the Board if they graduate from an Accredited Program or if they successfully complete a Qualifying Program within this 18 month period.
10.03 Persons who successfully complete either the Written Examination or OSCE but do not complete the other examination will have their result held valid for eighteen months.
10.04 A candidate who has met the standards of the Board and qualifies for certification shall be entitled to receive a Certificate of Qualification and shall have their name entered in the NDEB Register.
10.05 The Board shall determine the format of a single type of Certificate of Qualification to be issued to successful candidates. The Certificate of Qualification shall be signed by the President or President-Elect and the Registrar and shall bear the corporate seal of the Board.
10.06 A Certificate holder taking any Board examination shall receive a letter stating the examination results but shall not be issued a new Certificate.
11.00 GRADUATES OF NON-ACCREDITED PROGRAMS
(Not Applicable for Graduates of Accredited Programs)
11.01 Persons who are graduates of Non-Accredited Programs shall be eligible to apply for the Board Equivalency Process.
11.02 A person applying for the Board Equivalency Process shall provide evidence:
- of graduation from a Non-Accredited Program;
- if applicable, that they are considered in good standing with all Licensing/Regulatory Authorities in all jurisdictions in which the person has been or is currently registered or licensed or in which the person has been practising regularly;
11.03 The Board Equivalency Process shall consist of the Assessment of:
- Fundamental Knowledge as described in By-law 16.00,
- Clinical Skills as described in By-law 17.00, and
- Clinical Judgement as described in By-law 18.00
11.04 Persons who successfully complete the Board Equivalency Process by passing all three components as described in By-law 16.00 to 18.04 will be determined to be equivalent to a graduate of an Accredited Program.
13.00 WRITTEN EXAMINATION
13.01 The Written Examination shall consist of one examination taken in a one day session or as determined by the Board from time to time.
13.02 The passing standard for the Written Examination shall be established at the NDEB Annual Meeting and shall be applied for a minimum of one year.
13.03 Results will be reported to candidates as a Pass or Fail. Candidates who receive a fail result will also be given their equated, re-scaled score.
13.04 Subject to By-law 10.01, the Written Examination may be taken three times.
14.00 OBJECTIVE STRUCTURED CLINICAL EXAMINATION (OSCE)
14.01 The OSCE Examination shall consist of one examination taken in a one day session or as determined by the Board from time to time.
14.02 The passing standard for the OSCE Examination shall be established at the NDEB Annual Meeting and shall be applied for a minimum of one year.
14.03 Results will be reported to candidates as a Pass or Fail. Candidates who receive a fail result will also be given their equated, re-scaled score.
14.04 Subject to By-law 10.01, the OSCE Examination may be taken three times.
15.00 REPEATING WRITTEN AND OSCE EXAMINATIONS
15.01 Subject to By-law 15.02, a person does not meet the definition of “candidate” in By-law 9.02 if they have failed either the Written or OSCE Examinations three times pursuant to By-laws 13.03 and 14.03.
15.02 In order to apply to be a “candidate” pursuant to By-law 9.02, a person who has failed either the Written or OSCE Examinations three times, pursuant to By-laws 13.03 and 14.03 respectively, must successfully complete a Qualifying Program, an Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program, a General Practice Residency Program or a Dental Residency Program (hereafter “a Program”) which the person has enrolled in and taken subsequent to the failures, and not more than sixty months have elapsed since the date of successful completion of such a Program.
15.03 A person who applies to become a candidate under the circumstances described in By-law 15.02 must successfully complete both the Written Examination described in By-laws 13.01 to 13.04 and OSCE described in By-laws 14.01 to 14.04 subsequent to becoming a candidate through the process described in By-law 15.02
16.00 ASSESSMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
(Not Applicable for Graduates of Accredited Programs)
16.01 The Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge shall consist of an assessment taken in a one day session or as determined by the Board from time to time.
16.02 The passing standard for the Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge shall be established at the NDEB Annual Meeting and shall be applied for a minimum of one year.
16.03 Results will be reported to participants as a Pass or Fail. Participants will also receive their equated, re-scaled score.
16.04 Subject to By-law 11.02, the Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge may be taken two times.
16.05 A person must pass the Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge before proceeding to the Assessment of Clinical Skills and the Assessment of Clinical Judgement.
17.00 ASSESSMENT OF CLINICAL SKILLS
(Not Applicable for Graduates of Accredited Programs)
17.01 The Assessment of Clinical Skills shall consist of an assessment taken in a two day session or as determined by the Board from time to time.
17.02 The passing standard for the Assessment of Clinical Skills shall be established at the NDEB Annual Meeting and shall be applied for a minimum of one year.
17.03 Results will be reported to participants as a Pass or Fail. Participants will also receive their score for each requirement.
17.04 Subject to By-law 11.02, the Assessment of Clinical Skills may be taken two times.
17.05 Supplemental privileges for the Assessment of Clinical Skills shall consist of the right to repeat the Assessment in its entirety, at a regular session, subject to By-law 11.02 and By-law 17.04
18.00 ASSESSMENT OF CLINICAL JUDGEMENT
(Not Applicable for Graduates of Accredited Programs)
18.01 The Assessment of Clinical Judgement shall consist of an assessment taken in a one day session or as determined by the Board from time to time.
18.02 The passing standard for the Assessment of Clinical Judgement shall be established at the NDEB Annual Meeting and shall be applied for a minimum of one year.
18.03 Results will be reported to candidates in the form of an equated, re-scaled score.
18.04 Subject to By-law 11.02, the Assessment of Clinical Judgement may be taken two times.
19.00 CONDUCT
19.01 If a person has compromised in any manner whatsoever the integrity of the procedures of a Board examination or assessment, the official charged with overseeing the examination or assessment shall make a full report to the Examinations Committee, after which the Committee may void the results of the examination or assessment in question and, notwithstanding any other provision of these By-laws, may deny the person the privilege of repeating the examination or assessment. A person who has compromised in any manner whatsoever the integrity of the procedures of a Board examination or assessment may be dismissed immediately from the examination or assessment.
19.02 Without restricting the generality of By-law 19.01, a person shall be deemed to have compromised the integrity of the examination or assessment procedures if at any time an attempt is made to contact examiners outside the confines of the examination or assessment, for any reason whatsoever. Any communication by a person with the Board must be made or directed to the Registrar.
19.03 The Board shall from time to time determine the manner of communicating the results of examinations or assessments to persons. Results may be withheld from persons who have failed in any obligation made to the Board as a condition of taking an examination or assessment.
20.00 APPEALS
A. Appeals of the Written Examination, the OSCE, the Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge and the Assessment of Clinical Judgement
20.01 Persons who have failed any of the Written Examination, the OSCE, the Assessment of Fundamental Knowledge or the Assessment of Clinical Judgement may, within three months of the release of results, apply to the Board to have their answer score sheets manually checked against the answer key. Any such application for review must be accompanied by a filing fee as set by the Board from time to time. The score for the person will be that produced by the manual check. This score will determine whether a person passed or failed as established by By-laws 13.02, 14.02, 16.02 and 18.02.
B. Appeals of the Assessment of Clinical Skills (Not Applicable for Graduates of Accredited Programs)
20.02 Within three months of the release of results, a person who has failed the Assessment of Clinical Skills may make submissions in writing to the Board setting out the grounds for requesting to have the results changed. Any such application for review must be accompanied by the filing fee as set by the Board from time to time.
20.03 If on review of the applicant’s written submission, the Appeals Committee determines that there was no mistake of fact of such significance that it could have altered any decision made under By-law 17.02, then the appeal shall be dismissed. The decision to dismiss shall be final and reported to the Board for information purposes only.
20.04 In the event the Appeals Committee determines on a prima facie basis that there was a mistake of fact of such significance that it could have altered any decision made under By-law 17.02, then the results of the Assessment of Clinical Skills will be reviewed. The Appeals Committee will consider the applicant`s written submission and may permit the applicant to make further oral submissions. The results of the Appeals Committee’s review will be that the result will be identical to or higher than the original result. The Appeals Committee’s determination shall be final and reported to the Board for information purposes only.
C. Petitions
20.05 Pursuant to By-law 19.01, a person who has had
- examination or assessment results voided by the Examinations Committee, or
- examination or assessment results voided and who has been denied the privilege of repeating an examination or assessment by the Examinations Committee
may, within one month of the date of receipt of the notice of the aforesaid decision, petition the Appeals Committee to review and reverse the decision referred to in A or B of this By-law. Any such petition must be accompanied by the filing fee as set by the Board from time to time.
20.06 In presenting such a petition, the applicant may make written and/or oral submissions to the Appeals Committee. The applicant’s written and/or oral submission shall be limited to the issue of the compromising of the integrity of the examination or assessment procedures in question and must not include any other ground of review.
20.07 The Appeals Committee’s determination shall be final and will be reported to the Board for information purposes only.
D. Compassionate Appeal
20.08 A person who considers themselves disadvantaged either immediately before or during an examination or assessment by a personal circumstance beyond the person’s control may, within one week of the event beyond the person’s control occurring, request that the Board or the Executive Committee acting for the Board make a special consideration to void the results of the examination or assessment by permitting the person to withdraw from the examination or assessment and grant permission for the person to register for the examination or assessment at another scheduled session of the examination or assessment. The person may also request special consideration for a refund of up to 50% of the fee.
20.09 Any such request for Compassionate Appeal and special consideration for a fee refund must be in writing and the person must describe the event or events, which caused the disadvantage in sufficient detail to permit the Board to make a determination. The person must also describe the reason for requesting special consideration for a refund. The Board or the Executive Committee acting for the Board may require the person to provide documentation to substantiate the basis for the Compassionate Appeal.
20.10 The Board or the Executive Committee acting for the Board, may grant the Compassionate Appeal only if satisfied that a personal circumstance beyond the person’s control disadvantaged the person in taking an examination or assessment. The determination of the Board shall be final.
E. Application
20.11 The provisions pertaining to appeals contained in By-laws 20.01 to 20.07 shall apply to all examinations or assessments taken after the enactment of these By-laws, including examinations or assessments taken by persons prior to the enactment of these By-laws.
NOTE: Words in italics have been added to provide additional clarification