ABSTRACT Background Oral Medicine is that specialist branch of dentistry concerned with the diagnosis, prevention, and predominantly non‐surgical management of medically‐related disorders and conditions affecting the oral and maxillofacial region, in particular oral mucosal disease and orofacial pain, as well as the oral health care of medically complex patients. Published national curricula for postgraduate Oral Medicine training exist in the United Kingdom (UK General Dental Council, 2010; revised 2023) and the United States (American Academy of Oral Medicine competency framework, 2015), and an international competency consensus was established by the Sixth World Workshop on Oral Medicine (2015). Despite this international momentum, no equivalent nationally published, competency‐aligned postgraduate curriculum has been established for the Australasian region. This manuscript describes the development and structure of a contemporary 3‐year Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (DClinDent) curriculum for Oral Medicine specialist training, developed by the Oral Medicine Academy of Australasia (OMAA) and aligned with the OMAA Essential Competencies (2026). Methods The curriculum was developed through a joint collaboration of all program convenors and heads of training of DClinDent (Oral Medicine) programs in Australia and New Zealand, together with the OMAA Curriculum Working Group, informed by the OMAA Essential Competencies (2026), benchmarked against the UK GDC Oral Medicine Specialty Training Curriculum (2023) and the internationally validated competencies from the Sixth World Workshop on Oral Medicine (2015), and structured according to a spiral learning framework. The curriculum was endorsed by the OMAA Credentialing and Peer Review Subcommittee in 2026. The program is divided into three progressive phases: Foundations (Year 1), Development (Year 2), and Consolidation (Year 3). Results The curriculum encompasses five competency domains—Professionalism; Communication and Social Skills; Critical Thinking; Scientific and Clinical Knowledge; and Patient Care—mapped across all 3 years. The integration of cultural awareness and safety is an important feature across all phases of the curriculum. Year 1 establishes core scientific, clinical, and professional foundations. Year 2 develops clinical expertise across all Oral Medicine domains with increasing diagnostic independence. Year 3 prepares trainees for autonomous specialist practice, including complex case management, research thesis completion, and professional leadership. Minimum clinical case targets, portfolio‐based assessment, and a conjoint Fellowship of the Oral Medicine Academy of Australasia (FOMAA) exit examination are integral to program completion. Conclusions This curriculum provides a nationally applicable, competency‐aligned framework for Oral Medicine postgraduate training in Australasia. It addresses recognized gaps in specialty‐specific graduate medical education and offers a replicable model for programs seeking harmonization with Australasian and international Oral Medicine training standards.
Yeoh et al. (Sun,) studied this question.