ADC Part 1 - Detailed Guide

- Abeer Qazi

ADC PART 1 Written Examination Guidelines

Before you apply for the ADC part 1 written exam, there is a skills assessment you have to complete. It takes about 8 weeks for them to process all the required documents which you need to get attested. I got the attestations done from the high court, as they are very specific what needs to be written on the attestations. It cost me Rs30/- per document but I’m pretty sure they have increased the charges now. Make sure you read the ADC skills assessment guide carefully and thoroughly as they are extremely specific. They can reject it and ask for additional documents, and that will take another 4-6 weeks. So keeping in mind the application date for the written exam, make sure ou give yourself at least 4 months in advance just to be on the safe side.

 When I got my skills assessment done, it was for a lifetime. But now ADC have changed their rules, and they say that’s its valid for 7 years only. So make sure you complete your exams in that time because the skills assessment isn’t cheap either!

The Adc part 1 exam is a theoretical exam consisting of 4 papers, with 80 questions each divided in 2 days. You give paper 1 and 2 on the first day, and Paper 3 and 4 on the second day. After you have booked the exam, you will get an email from Pearson vue (the exam conducting body all around the world) that you will be asked to book your exam 6 weeks before the exam commences. You have to do this quickly in the country and the centre you chose to sit the exam as places get booked up pretty fast. 

Before starting preparation for the exam be sure to read the ADC guide on the written exam which explains what topics are covered in each paper. The following is the link: https://www.adc.org.au/sites/default/files/Media_Libraries/Assessments/Written_Examination_Handbook_for_General_Dentistry_May19.pdf

The tricky part about the ADC part 1 exam is that the results are percentile based, which means it is very important for you to be thoroughly equipped to give the exam. You will often hear the ADC motto ‘study smart, not hard’. This basically means there are certain subjects, journals, chapters that you have to study. You don’t need to study everything. After a while of doing mcq’s you’ll even notice which topics their questions tend to indulge in. 

ADC written examination results will appear on your Results Profile. To be awarded a PASS in the written examination, candidates must PASS all four written papers. The Results Profile also provides a grade for each paper attempted. Grades A, B and C are PASS grades and grades D and E are FAIL grades.

After giving the ADC exam, I realized that once you understand the way ADC think, giving the exam becomes fairly easy. It is very important to understand their way of thinking and asking questions. 

To pass ADC part 1, one should have at least 5 months of preparation; try to go through all the material in 3 months and leave the last 2 months only attempting mcq’s, going over therapeutic guidelines and the odell cases. These mcq’s are the key to passing the ADC exam as there is a lot of repetition. At least 65% of the whole exam is from the mcq bank and the other 35% can easily be attempted if all the relevant material is thoroughly studied.

The following are the books needed to study for the exam:

1. Therapeutic guidelines(TG) 2019 version 
2. Problem solving in dentistry(Odell) 
3. 1000 MCQS
4. Cameron 2013 edition(ortho,traumatic injuries,pulp therapy,flouride) 
5. Boucher(dental embryology pages110-120,ortho,operative,endo,pedo,surgery,prostho) 
6. Clinical cases in Prosthdontics 
7. BDJ (Removable partial denture, dental implants,) 
8. Langalis(panorama and periapical errors involving pages 325,326) 
9. Abbot 
10. ADJ(Australian Guidelines to reduce risks from drinking Alcohol, Records keeping, Australian Guidelines to reduce risks from smoking,infection control guidelines,radiation protection,amalgam waste management) 
11. Mount&hume 
12. Scope of practice(duties of dentists,dental hygienists and dental therapists) 
13. White and Pharoah (radiology)
14. Mount and Hume ( the restorative chapters)
15. Other books and notes for reference are dental decks, pickards manual of operative dentistry, ortho profitt, dental materials from undergrad notes and Phillips,
16. Past paper exams 2014- Sept 2019 mcqs these will give you at least 60-65% of the exam.

All these can be found in the one drive link given on any ADC part 1 page. 

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AMqyR7mpxAJNQkU&id=FF7F484377A8E5B9!105&cid=FF7F484377A8E5B9

It is very important to join the facebook groups who are practicing mcq’s with a genuine ADC part 1 passer who is giving correct answers with references. 

The exam consists of simple mcqs and scenario based questions (sbq’s).

Getting a compilation of these sbq’s is quite difficult, and usually one pays someone who has compiled these, for quick access as doing it yourself is too time consuming along with everything else you have to study. These Sbq’s are repeated quite often in the exam with a slight change in the question. Answering 80% of these correctly will assure a pass in the exam. 

The following is the breakdown of the subjects covered in each paper: 

Paper 1: Tooth Conservation Dental Caries Endodontics Dental Pulp Dental Materials 

Paper 2: Fixed Prosthodontics Removable Prosthodontics Implantology

 Paper 3: Anaesthesia and Resuscitation Infection Control Medicine and Surgery Oral Maxillofacial Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology Pharmacology and Therapeutics 

Paper 4: Orthodontics Paediatric Dentistry Periodontics Preventive Dentistry Public Dental Health Radiology

You need to be half way through your preparation for the Written exam by the time of application comes around.  Your second revision and third time doing mcq’s should be going on by that time. 

I hope this was helpful. Best of luck.