Graduate Entry Dental Programme
The new four-year graduate entry course leading to an award of BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) offers a balance of theoretical study and practical training, and will provide a new core of qualified dentists across the region.
Students spend their first year studying on campus in the new purpose-built school at UCLan, before relocating for three years’ clinical training at one of four newly-established Dental Education Centres (DECs) in Accrington, Blackpool, Carlisle and Morecambe Bay.
The DECs are clinical training centres where students treat patients, under supervision, and gain first-hand experience within the communities they are most likely to serve after graduation.
By placing our students at the heart of community dental services within Cumbria and Lancashire, we are aiming not only to attract local candidates, but also to foster long-standing relationships with those communities, leading ultimately to an increase in the numbers of newly qualified dentists who will remain in the area to continue their professional career.
The school at UCLan will deliver the University of Liverpool curriculum in partnership with the Universities of Liverpool and Lancaster, St Martin’s College and local NHS partners, who together form the Cumbria and Lancashire Medical and Dental Consortium. Students from Liverpool and UCLan will study the same curriculum and take the same assessments, qualifying with a Liverpool University degree.
During the first year on the Preston campus students will have access to an entire range of social and support services offered by the University of Central Lancashire and may also access learning resources from all consortium partners. When based in the DECs in Years 2-4, students will maintain their links with UCLan and have additional access to local resources. Lectures will be delivered to the DECs by high specification videoconferencing and students will return to Preston on a regular basis for tutorials and practicals.
An Established, Quality Programme
Many years of experience and quality provision have informed the establishment of the graduate entry programme. When approving this new approach to dental education the General Dental Council commented that UCLan would be delivering ‘a particularly innovative dental degree programme’ with imaginative use of IT, e-learning and an emphasis on learning dentistry within the local community.
As a consortium partner the University of Liverpool will be responsible for ensuring the quality of the award, whilst UCLan manages the delivery of the programme. The Faculty of Health & Social Care at UCLan also has an established portfolio of postgraduate dental, medical and general health provision with a reputation for excellence in teaching and learning.
