GENERIC SKILLS

On completion of the BDS, students will be able to:

• Work as a member of a team;
• Design and conduct scientific investigations;
• Exhibit professional responsibility;
• Have an awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities;
• Value differences in health beliefs, lifestyles, ethnic and cultural background;
• Ensure safe and effective care for people of diverse backgrounds.

PROFESSIONALISM

• The ability to apply practical skills and a recognition of their importance in health care;
• Have empathy, compassion, honesty, integrity, resilience and lifelong curiosity,
• Self-awareness, the ability to recognise when clinical problems exceed their knowledge and skill, and a willingness to seek help and/or to refer;
• The ability to identify and address their own learning needs ;
• A thorough understanding of the ethical principles and legal responsibilities involved in the provision of dental care to individual patients;
• Skills to use contemporary information technology for documentation including patient records, communication, management of information and applications related to health care.

SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE:

On graduation BDS graduates will have developed:

• Knowledge of the basic biological, medical, technical and clinical sciences in order to recognise the difference between normal and pathological conditions;
• Skills to analyse oral health as it relates to symptoms, signs and pathology;
• Skills required to prevent, diagnose and treat anomalies and illnesses of the teeth, and associated structures;
• Knowledge of the management and interaction (pharmacological, physical, nutritional, behavioural and psychological) of important oral and medically-related conditions;
• Skills to provide treatment options based on the best available information;
• Scientific principles of sterilisation, disinfection and antisepsis and infection control and waste disposal;
• Knowledge of the hazards of ionising radiations and their effects on biological tissues, together with the regulations
• relating to their use, including radiation protection and dose reduction;
• Knowledge of research methods and their applications
• Knowledge of the moral and ethical responsibilities involved in the provision of care to individual patients, to populations and communities;
• Understand basic principles of practice administration, financial and personnel management to a dental practice.

PATIENT CARE:

On graduation, BDS graduates will have developed:

• The ability to communicate with patients including the ability to listen to, respond to, and provide appropriate information to patients;
• Respect for patients’ values and their expressed needs;
• Skills to manage and the potential impact of chronic illness and disability on the patient’s oral health;
• Appropriate skills to obtain a thorough dental, medical and social history and perform an accurate oral examination;
• The ability to integrate and interpret clinical findings and apply reasoning to arrive at an appropriate diagnosis or differential diagnosis;
• The ability to formulate an evidence-based and cost effective treatment plan in collaboration with the patient;
• The ability to perform appropriate dental procedures effectively and safely, with due regard for the patient’s comfort including during emergency procedures;
• The ability to predict, prevent and correct deficiencies in patients' oral hygiene regimens and provide patients with strategies to control undesirable habits affecting the maintenance of oral and general health;
• Skills to alleviate pain and provide appropriate treatment outcomes.

DENTAL PROFESSION:

On graduation, BDS graduates will have developed:

• The ability to be an active participant in professional organisations, and an appreciation of the benefits of this participation
• The ability to provide effective peer review in order to assist colleagues to improve their performance
• Maturity and responsibility to maintain standards of dental practice at the highest level throughout a professional career;
• The philosophy of lifelong learning and accept that continuing professional development is required for professional growth.

THE SOCIETY:

On graduation, BDS graduates will have developed:

• The ability to contribute to their communities wherever they choose to live and work;
• Knowledge of the determinants of a ‘healthy society’ and the economic, political, psychological, social and cultural factors that contribute to the development and persistence of oral health and illness;
• Skills of oral health promotion including primary and secondary prevention and health education;
• Skills to identify the requirements of health care systems in a culturally diverse society;
• Respect community values, including an appreciation of a diversity of backgrounds and cultural values;
• Knowledge of the relationship between environmental issues and the oral health and health of local communities and society.