ORIGINAL RESEARCH An overview of the endodontic curriculum in Fiji from 2009 to 2013 Arpana A. Devi, BDS, PGDip 1 and Paul V. Abbott, BDS, MDS and FRACDS (ENDO) 2 1 Department of Oral Health, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji 2 School of Dentistry, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia Keywords block teaching method, dental curriculum, endodontic. Correspondence Dr Arpana A Devi, Department of Oral Health, Fiji National University, Suva, PO Box 9443, Fiji. Email: arpana_dv@yahoo.com doi:10.1111/aej.12099 Abstract This paper seeks to provide the reader with an overview of the endodontic curriculum in Fiji from 2009 to 2013. It also intends to inform readers of the changes in endodontic teaching, the learning methods utilised, curriculum development, the transition from block teaching to partial block teaching combined with longitudinal teaching, and the future plans for the endodontic module. Dental education history in Fiji Dentistry has been taught in Fiji since 1931, whereby some lectures about dentistry were delivered to medical students. Dentistry was a part of the medical teaching program until 1945 when a 2-year clinical dental course was implemented and students graduated as Assistant Dental Practitioners. To date, medical students are still taught how to extract teeth at the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (CMNHS) at the Fiji National University. This is largely carried out in order to cater for the smaller islands in Fiji where there is no access to dental providers for dental care. The first cohort of students in dental mechanics and dental nursing graduated in 1955. In 1968, the University of the South Pacific began teaching dental students in the first year of their course after which they completed three years at the Fiji School of Medicine (FSMed). Upon completion of the four years, they were awarded a Diploma in Dental Surgery. However, this course was abolished in 1984 and The University of Adelaide in Aus- tralia agreed to take two dental students from Fiji per year into their Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree course. These students were sponsored by the Government of Fiji. Then, in 1993, the Bachelor in Dental Surgery program was re-introduced into FSMed with an innova- tive curriculum (1). Fiji’s unique dental curriculum Fiji has been training dentists for the past 20 years for the country as well as for other nations within the South Pacific region. In 1993, a new approach to the training and education of oral health personnel was introduced at the then Fiji School of Medicine. Courses of study were designed to enable students to proceed through a sequence of educational modules on a career pathway leading from a dental assistant through other auxiliary levels (dental technologist, dental hygienist and dental therapist) and to eventually become a dentist with a university degree (2). The courses offered were very unique when compared to other universities as the education of dentists and the training of auxiliaries were integrated into the same insti- tution, the content of the courses was matched to the oral health-care needs of the public; the pattern of oral dis- eases and conditions as revealed by a national oral health survey; and the local cultural, social, demographic and economic factors affecting oral health in the region. The scope of the curriculum was broadened to provide appro- priate knowledge in general as well as oral health. The uniqueness of this program allowed those in training to remain on the pathway, to step off it and enter the work- force at different levels, and then after gaining some experience, to re-enter the pathway for further training Aust Endod J 2015; 41: 111–116 111 © 2015 Australian Society of Endodontology