Dentistry

Your clinical education will commence at the start of Year 1. Working in small, integrated study groups, you will learn the core scientific foundations of dentistry in a clinical context through an enquiry based learning (EBL) format. You will explore the scientific basis of healthy structure, function and behaviour, with a focus on dental health, prevention of dental disease and the underlying principles of personal and professional development.

You will attend the SDLE from your first few weeks, developing essential clinical skills. From Semester 2 of Year 1, you will experience contact with patients in the clinics, where you will be able to develop your clinical and communication skills under close supervision by primary dental care-based teachers, bringing to life the skills acquired in SDLE. Towards the end of the year, you will have your first experience in community engagement.

Modules

• Integrated Dental Science 1
• Clinical Dental Practice 1
• Professional Development 1
• Inter-Professional Engagement 1

In Year 2, you will build on your foundations with common dental problems, as well as disease mechanisms considered in much greater depth. Learning will continue through EBL and in the SDLE as you develop clinical skills for advanced procedures whilst continuing to care for patients in dental clinics approximately two days per week. You will gain insight into the importance of team working in dentistry as you integrate with other members of the team in the clinical environment, and plan and deliver a social engagement project intervention.

Modules

• Integrated Dental Science 2
• Clinical Dental Practice 2
• Professional Development 2
• Inter-Professional Engagement 2

In Year 3, there will be greater emphasis on clinical practice and self-directed learning as you prepare project assignments, including an engagement project with students from another healthcare profession and clinical cases. You will consolidate existing skills and undertake more advanced procedures under close supervision.

One of the themes for Years 3 and 4 is to consolidate the learning of medically-related issues for the safe practice of dentistry. You will be given an opportunity to learn about dentally relevant medical issues in patient-based demonstrations.

Modules

• Applied Dental Knowledge 3
• Clinical Dental Practice 3
• Professional Development 3
• Inter-Professional Engagement 3

In Year 4, clinical activities will expand to approximately three days per week and you will start to prepare clinical cases for finals. Clinical dentistry will now embrace all aspects of dental care provision expected of a qualified primary care dentist. You will also be trained in advanced restorative techniques and strengthen your competence in treatment planning.

You'll gain first-hand experience of the role and services provided by specialists in primary and secondary care, by attending specialist clinics in the various clinical disciplines, such as oral surgery, orthodontics and restorative dentistry.

Modules

• Applied Dental Knowledge 4
• Clinical Dental Practice 4
• Professional Development 4
• Inter-Professional Engagement 4

The emphasis in Year 5 is on the implementation and consolidation of the skills and acumen you have acquired in previous years and is the final preparation for dental practice. You will become more confident with clinical practice, healthcare teams and the principles of professionalism; and discover advances in dentistry being developed for future practice.

Modules

• Applied Dental Knowledge 5
• Clinical Dental Practice 5
• Professional Development 5

The Bachelor of Dental Surgery Programme (BDS NUI RCSI) is designed with a comprehensive focus on several key objectives and methodologies:

• Primary care and patient-oriented training: The curriculum aims to educate and train you in a focused primary care environment, emphasising patient-centric practices to ensure the delivery of high-quality oral health improvements in the community.
• Localised training and community sensitivity: Focused on increasing the number of locally trained dentists in Ireland, the curriculum follows a community-based model. It aims to address local health needs effectively, aligning strongly with national dental care policy ('Smile Agus Sláinte') to provide comprehensive oral healthcare and reduce inequalities.
• Experiential education and clinical skills: Using expertise in experiential education, the curriculum integrates dedicated dentistry clinical skills training facilities, ensuring students acquire practical proficiency aligned with international best practices.
• Community-based dentistry curriculum: Inspired by recommended international best practices, the curriculum embraces a community-based dentistry approach. It plans to establish RCSI managed dental education facilities focused on delivering integrated patient care and professional training near underserved communities.

The programme provides a distinctive, personalised, and robust dental education that is socially accountable and is targeted at meeting oral health needs of the future. The curriculum and pedagogy will stimulate, prepare, and support you to take responsibility of your own learning process. Key features that enable this include:

• The curriculum offers a spiral, vertically and horizontally integrated programme utilising a blend of teaching and learning methods, which combine clinical skills training with the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and professional attributes at all levels of the programme.
• All teaching and learning activities are patient and student-centred and offer rich opportunities to effect authentic and contextual deep learning.
• Throughout the course, you will undertake authentic tasks and be offered real-life opportunities for clinical care and participation in meaningful work-based learning. This case-based learning paradigm provides excellent opportunities for enhancing clinical and communication skills for total patient care, to build confidence, to learn from the diversity of role models in healthcare and, under appropriate supervision, to give something back to the community within which you are learning. The more authentic clinical experiences you have will help with understanding the context for learning dentistry, the multi-professional nature of healthcare, and the importance of teams in healthcare provision.
• The Simulated Dental Learning Environment (SDLE) in Sandyford will enable you to develop, acquire and consolidate your clinical skills systematically, and to demonstrate the required level of competency and safety before you are allowed to continue to learn your clinical skills through treating patients in a close support environment. This SDLE is equipped with a comprehensive and extensive range of models and equipment, state-of-the-art patient simulators, and includes the use of 3D printed teeth where appropriate (particularly for simulating dental caries, broken down dentition, endodontics, and the restoration of missing teeth. Where appropriate, surgical simulations will be used, as well as virtual-reality based clinical skills acquisition as part of the comprehensive and bespoke learning process. The SDLE will provide a protected environment in which to practice clinical and communication skills, as a springboard to treating real-life patients.
• Clinical learning will be in one or more of the School’s Dental Education Facilities (DEF) in Sandyford and Blanchardstown in Dublin. These facilities are designed specifically to meet the needs of dental students, to allow you to gain experience of dental care in a primary care setting. These facilities are supported by an academic programme, including plenaries, seminars, workshops, and small group sessions that build on previous learning and help to integrate scientific and clinical knowledge.
• Engagement with local communities throughout the course is one of the keys to dental students developing professionalism skills and a real understanding of the needs and demands of different groups in the population. You will work closely with community groups and other healthcare professionals to learn with, about and from one another.
• Small group teaching is an overarching method of supporting your learning; this is blended with small and large group plenaries, workshops, simulated clinical and integrated dental science sessions.
• An appropriate suite of aligned assessment types is in place to cover the knowledge, skills and attributes required. This supports, drives, and measures progress for learners, and attests to achievement for accreditors.

The delivery of modules will be multimodal and reflect the relevant elements of the learning teaching and assessment strategy (learning from experts, with others, exploring, inquiry, practicing, from assessment and in and across settings) appropriate to the module content and design.

The delivery mode for each module is aligned with the module aim and rationale, intended learning outcomes, and relevant stage of the curriculum. The following delivery modes are employed across the programme:

• Anatomy practicals
• Case presentations
• Chairside tutorials
• Clinical skills teaching
• Early patient contact
• Electives
• Enquiry and case-based learning
• Facilitated discussions
• Healthcare symposia
• Interprofessional education
• Laboratory practicals
• Lectures
• Plenaries
• Seminars
• Simulation
• Simulated and standardised patients
• Small group teaching
• Supervised research
• Team-based/multi-disciplinary workshops
• Team projects
• Technology enhanced learning
• Tutorials
• Workplace learning including diagnosis, treatment planning, and treatment of patients
• Workshops.

The approaches will enable you to reach the module learning outcomes and integrate the learning within the module as well as horizontally across the year and vertically as you progress, through intentional spiralling.

To ensure the achievement of educational outcomes, RCSI employs a multifaceted approach to assessments. Our suite of assessment methods encompasses diverse tools tailored to cover a spectrum of knowledge, skills, and attitudes and designed to support our graduate dentist profile. These methods are carefully aligned with the programme and module-level learning outcomes, ensuring a comprehensive and progressive evaluation of learners' competencies.

Furthermore, the principles governing assessments within RCSI, as per our learning, teaching, and assessment strategy, echo RCSI's emphasis on assessment as an integral part of the teaching and learning process. The commitment to transparent, robust, and consistent assessment processes aligns with our requirements for assessment practices.

Our approach maintains a balance between formative and summative assessments, supporting not only the measurement of your progress but also guiding decisions concerning academic and clinical advancement. The use of various assessment tools, such as examinations, clinical evaluations, and assessments of professional behaviour, ensures a holistic evaluation of your performance and your readiness for professional practice. 

This approach supports your earning by encouraging and enabling you to take active responsibility, including engaging with the process to identify and remediate areas that may require additional focus.

You will be allocated an academic tutor (expert mentor), who will guide you on your professional development journey. Students and academic tutors will meet at least once per term to review progress. You will maintain a regular portfolio appraisal record, and as part of each meeting – such records are captured on Kaizen and for the basis of student/tutor meetings.

The RPA will include input from many independent assessors encountered across all years of the programme. It will also include comments on your interpersonal, cognitive, and technical skills, and personal and professional development. It forms an important record of achievement and acts as a basis for developing your annual personal development plan. You will be expected to demonstrate an ability to learn by reflection on your clinical, professional, and academic performance and achievements.

You will also receive continuous feedback throughout your learning journey from activities and staff across: evidence-based learning; simulated dental learning environment; and inter professional education. You can request multisource feedback from various sources (including patient feedback), where you can reflect on as part of your professional development.

In terms of technology, RCSI utilises Practique and Kaizen software so that you can quickly and easily track your performance. As each student advances through the programme, the technology can allow you to monitor progress and identify areas for attention.

RCSI provides a comprehensive range of support to our students to enable them to thrive. As a small health sciences institution, most supports are run on an institution wide basis, by staff with significant experience in their fields.

Key service offices are also located in prominent locations on campus – Centre for Mastery: Personal, Professional and Academic Success (CoMPPAS) and Student Services – who also advertise their services widely around the campus.

Academic counselling

All programme students will be assigned a tutor who is an academic member of staff. Faculty within the School of Dentistry support academic counselling for the programme.

The role of the personal tutor is focused on ensuring that each individual student is known and valued and that your needs are recognised and supported. The personal tutor programme consists of several meetings per year that you are required to attend. At the start of the academic year there will be one group meeting with the tutor. This will be followed by 1-1 meetings. The meetings provide you an opportunity to reflect on your learning and will provide academic and pastoral support to ensure you feel supported throughout the academic year.

The personal tutor will:

• Provide support and a listening ear
• Assist you to develop educational goals
• Help you reflect on results
• Offer general academic advice
• Refer students with specific needs to Year Lead or CoMPPAS.

You will enjoy training in the following simulated and clinical environments:

Simulated Dental Learning Environment

The flagship Simulated Dental Learning Environment (SDLE) facilities will be located at Reservoir House, Sandyford, Dublin. In the SDLE, you will have access to appropriate simulators (phantom heads) and other equipment and materials where appropriate, with which to acquire and practice clinical skills. Clinical supervisors and technicians will be available to guide and support you both during the taught, and where applicable, the remedial sessions.

Dental education facilities

Clinical learning will be in one or more of the School’s dental education facilities (DEF). The first two facilities are set to be developed in Sandyford and Blanchardstown in Dublin. These facilities are being designed specifically to meet the needs of dental students, to allow you to gain experience of dental care in a primary care setting.  These facilities are supported by an academic programme, including plenaries, seminars, workshops, and small group sessions that build on previous learning and help to integrate scientific and clinical knowledge.

Clinical training in RCSI managed dental education facilities will ensure that you are well prepared and equipped for your professional career. These facilities will support the provision over 90 dental chairs at full roll out and associated specialist requirements such as CSSD and X-Ray.

Specialist visits 

During training, where possible,you will be afforded the opportunity to explore the role of secondary care and how it contributes to the clinical journey and patient experience. You will encounter clinical situations that may need the help of specialist staff and specialist facilities and will be asked to visit these centres and observe the patient journey to and through secondary care. These will provide opportunities to develop a clearer understanding of the role of the secondary care clinician in providing care to your patients and the processes involved.

The specialist areas to be visited may include paediatric and special care, inhalation sedation, iv sedation, oral medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, general anaesthesia, and radiography.

At the completion of these visits in Year 5, you will be expected to produce a report providing comment upon one of the services provided, the role of secondary care provision in dentistry within this service, and finally on the patient’s experience and journey through the secondary care organisation involved. You will understand the role of both primary and secondary care providers in this wider team, the responsibilities of appropriate referral, and patient communication.

Active participation in research within the programme serves as a catalyst for lifelong learning by nurturing critical thinking skills, integrating theoretical knowledge with practical applications, and fostering a deep understanding of dentistry's evolving landscape. It instils a continuous quest for knowledge, enabling you to adapt to new methodologies, stay updated with advancements, and contribute to evidence-based practices throughout your professional journey. 

Research engagement cultivates a mindset of perpetual learning, supporting ongoing professional development, and preparing individuals for the dynamic challenges of the dental field in the long-term. The following are some of the key opportunities for our dental students to become involved in research:

Research Summer School

During the summer months, dentistry students accepted into the RCSI Research Summer School will get the opportunity to participate in activities that are designed to develop core skills in scientific writing, presentation, data management, statistics, ethics and research involving patients.

You are also given laboratory practicals that focus on basic research techniques, and other hands-on activities to develop skills in computer modelling and simulation.

Participating students who undertake an eight-week project are supervised by RCSI Principal Investigators who are experts in their chosen fields. These supervised projects can be lab, desk or ward-based, but all aim to research important health-related problems and focus on improving future patient care.

The summer school aims to immerse participating students in a world-class research experience that will benefit their professional development and enhance their educational experience while studying at the RCSI.

Student Innovation Challenge

Another exciting opportunity for our dental school students is the RCSI Student Innovation Challenge. Here students are presented with the challenge to devise an innovative approach that addresses a problem facing modern healthcare delivery.

Each team is mentored by a leader who is an RCSI-affiliated academic and researcher. Over a four-week period challenge during the summer teams work together to develop their idea before pitching to a panel of eminent RCSI and industry judges at a fun afternoon of presentations that marks the end of the challenge.

Previous challenge topics have focused on neurological and psychiatric disorders, population health, biomaterials and regenerative medicine, surgical science and practice, and vascular biology. All of this is coordinated in collaboration with the RCSI Office of Research and Innovation.