Plymouth dental student in national final

A dental student from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry has won the local heat of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) Dental Clinical Skills Competition and will go on to represent the School at the national final in Edinburgh next March.

Organised by RCSEd and sponsored by DENTSPLY, this dental clinical skills competition is the first of its kind in the UK and is running in 14 of the UK’s dental schools this autumn/winter 2013. At each of the heats, final year dental students are given the opportunity to showcase their clinical skills against their peers, with the top student from each heat shortlisted to win a travel and accommodation package to compete in the Grand Final of the competition which will take place at RCSEd on 6 March 2014.

The overall prize the top 14 UK finalists will compete for is an expenses-paid trip to the Chicago Dental Society’s Midwinter Meeting in February 2015, courtesy of RCSEd’s Faculty of Dental Surgery.

The winner of the Plymouth heat was Lucy Wright, who scored the maximum mark possible. Runners-up were fellow final year students Alexander Pollard and Samantha Jayaweera-Bandara.

Judging was anonymous and the judges were Dr Matthew Moore, Consultant Orthodontist at the Royal Devon & Exeter Foundation NHS Trust and Dr Tim O’Brien, Academic Clinical Fellow and Honorary Specialist Registrar in Restorative Dentistry at Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry. Both judges also represented the Royal College.

Overseeing the event was Associate Professor Malcolm Bruce, Director of the Simulated Learning Environment at Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry. He said: “As we expect of our final year students, the standard of our round of the competition was exceptionally high and our congratulations go to all entrants. Our final year students will have had almost four years hands-on clinical experience not just in our simulated learning environment, but also in our Dental Education Facilities across the South West where they treat NHS patients under the supervision of qualified dental professionals. We are looking forward to supporting Lucy as she goes through to the final and we wish her every success.”

Explaining more about the competition, Dean of RCSEd’s Faculty of Dental Surgery, Professor Richard Ibbetson said: “RCSEd’s Faculty of Dental Surgery is dedicated to providing training opportunities for aspiring dentists and we are therefore delighted to have launched this competition to give the next generation of dentists an occasion to showcase their dental knowledge and skills in this UK-wide competition.

“For the last two years RCSEd ran a similar competition for medical students with surgical career aspirations which was a huge success, so we hope final year dental students will find taking part in this unique dental competition useful and beneficial to their career ambitions.”

Commenting on sponsoring the competition, Olivier Collet, DENTSPLY UK Dental Division Vice President and General Manager said: "We are delighted to be working with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) and supporting the Clinical Skills Competition. It is a valuable opportunity for students to demonstrate their skills within a competitive environment and compare results with their peers as well as a welcome chance for students to interact with DENTSPLY representatives. We very much look forward to observing the students putting the knowledge they have gained during their studies into practice."