422 Journal of Dental Education ■ Volume 80, Number 4 Predoctoral Dental Education Reaching Consensus on Essential Biomedical Science Learning Objectives in a Dental Curriculum Leandra Best, DMD; Joanne N. Walton, DDS, Dip Pros, FRCD(C); Judith Walker, PhD; HsingChi von Bergmann, PhD Abstract: This article describes how the University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry reached consensus on essential basic biomedical science objectives for DMD students and applied the information to the renewal of its DMD curriculum. The Delphi Method was used to build consensus among dental faculty members and students regarding the relevance of over 1,500 existing biomedical science objectives. Volunteer panels of at least three faculty members (a basic scientist, a general dentist, and a dental specialist) and a fourth-year dental student were formed for each of 13 biomedical courses in the irst two years of the program. Panel members worked independently and anonymously, rating each course objective as “need to know,” “nice to know,” “ir- relevant,” or “don’t know.” Panel members were advised after each round which objectives had not yet achieved a 75% consen- sus and were asked to reconsider their ratings. After a maximum of three rounds to reach consensus, a second group of faculty experts reviewed and reined the results to establish the biomedical science objectives for the renewed curriculum. There was consensus on 46% of the learning objectives after round one, 80% after round two, and 95% after round three. The second expert group addressed any remaining objectives as part of its review process. Only 47% of previous biomedical science course objec- tives were judged to be essential or “need to know” for the general dentist. The consensus reached by participants in the Delphi Method panels and a second group of faculty experts led to a streamlined, better integrated DMD curriculum to prepare graduates for future practice. Dr. Best is Clinical Professor, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia; Dr. Walton is Professor Emeritus, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia; Dr. Walker is Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia; and Dr. von Bergmann is Associate Professor, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Co- lumbia. Direct correspondence to Dr. Leandra Best, Faculty of Dentistry, University of British Columbia, 2199 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3; 604-822-1729; lbest@dentistry.ubc.ca. Keywords: dental education, curriculum, biomedical sciences, basic sciences, Delphi Method Submitted for publication 8/4/15; accepted 9/15/15 S ince 1997, the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculties of Dentistry and Medicine have collaborated to deliver a combined basic biomedical sciences curriculum during the irst two years of our respective DMD and MD programs. Content experts in the Faculty of Medicine developed biomedical science learning objectives primarily to meet the needs of medical students, and those objec- tives were assumed to be appropriate for dental stu- dents. While it is increasingly important for dentists to possess integrated knowledge and skills in bio- medical, clinical, and behavioral domains, our dental students struggled to understand the relevance of all the Faculty of Medicine’s extensive and detailed objectives to their future practice as general dentists. While many dental faculty members questioned the depth of the biomedical objectives taught to their students, until the time of this study, they relied on the Faculty of Medicine to teach this content due to its expertise and the inancial eficiencies of a joint curriculum. Additionally, faculty positions from the Faculty of Dentistry had historically been given over to medicine to accommodate the Faculty of Medicine’s teaching of biomedical sciences to dental students, resulting in a perceived lack of expertise and available time for these topics among remaining dental faculty members. In 2010, the Commission on Dental Accredita- tion of Canada (CDAC) recommended a review of what it thought might be excessive biomedical con- tent in the UBC DMD program. In response to these concerns, along with those raised by dental students, and as part of ongoing dental curriculum review, we undertook an assessment of the relevance of these