Faculty member leads national update on competency criteria for dental school graduates

Ann Arbor, Mich., April 22, 2026 – A University of Michigan School of Dentistry faculty member led an American Dental Education Association (ADEA) workgroup that has developed new competency criteria for how U.S. dental schools prepare their graduates for entry into dental practice.

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Dr. Theodora Danciu, serving as chair of ADEA’s Domains of Competence (DOC) Workgroup, guided the profession’s first update of this competency framework since 2008. The new evidence-informed model was approved in March by ADEA’s House of Delegates. Workgroup participants included Council of Faculties members, ADEA staff, and advisory group members. Dr. Vidya Ramaswamy, who is an educational expert in competency-based assessment and analysis and the school’s Director of Evaluation and Promotion in Teaching and Learning, guided the workgroup's efforts.

ADEA’s “Domains of Competence for the New General Dentist” document is intended to serve as a resource for dental education programs at ADEA member institutions.

Beginning in December 2023, the DOC Workgroup set out to revise and update the prior competency document with four goals: define the competencies required of a graduating dentist; provide a framework for educating learners in the provision of oral health care that encompasses quality, safe, equitable and sustainable care; provide domains of competence that can be linked to, and referenced by, those of other health professions; and create a revised competency resource for ADEA and its members.

Under Danciu’s leadership, the workgroup engaged subject matter experts, conducted extensive literature reviews, and completed a comparative analysis of competency documents from national and international health professions. The group also interviewed experts and sought broad stakeholder feedback using an iterative consensus process, conducting six Delphi surveys to identify domains for inclusion, define key roles of the dentist aligned to those domains, and develop and refine supporting competencies.

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The group was especially instrumental in shaping the “Role of the Dentist” portion of the new framework, including the creation of new domains and supporting competencies that articulate the knowledge, skills and professional behaviors expected of new graduates.

The significance of this work includes helping shape curriculum, guiding assessment, and providing a shared reference point for dental schools and oral health institutions to graduate competent, practice-ready general dentists, supporting both educational quality and the evolving needs of patients and communities.

Danciu is a clinical professor in the dental school’s Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine. She is the dental school’s Director of Engaged Learning and Assessment and is currently completing the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.
 

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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral healthcare education, research, patient care and community service.  General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan.  Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies.  Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide.  For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.  Email: [email protected], or (734) 615-1971.