The Institute of Dentistry reopened its doors to clinical classes in October. It has been great to see our students back in the building and to welcome our new cohort. This return has been made possible by the tireless and careful work of NHS Grampian and University colleagues over the past few months - and which continues today.
The first students to arrive back on campus were our DipHE Dental Technology students. The cohort had certainly felt some understandable apprehension returning to campus but found the experience to be very positive. Final year student Michelle Walker commented, “It was brilliant, I felt 100% at ease. Everything was explained and clear - before, on arrival and during our time there. It was obvious a lot of effort was put in and personally I do not think anything more could have been done. Thanks to everyone - it worked really well.”
We then welcomed back our final year BDS Dentistry students to campus where they undertook an intensive clinical skills revision programme. Final year student Raidah Azam commented, “Like most courses, ours is being taught in a blended learning format. However, as the course is so hands on, most of the clinical teaching has to be done in person, particularly in final year. With lots of new changes and added protocols, the staff have been really understanding and helpful with the challenges of transitioning back to face to face teaching. We have started a 3 week long intense clinical skills remediation course to refresh our skills and have all been mask fitted so we can start treating patients again in the coming few weeks which we’re all really excited for. Although the future still remains uncertain, the staff are doing everything they can to ensure we are ready to start our foundation training jobs later in the year. For now, it is great to return to some level of normality and hopefully be one step closer to graduating!”
Final year student Savanna Joyce added, “The thought of learning a new routine and several new protocols seemed a little daunting at first, but it’s not been as challenging as I thought it would be. I’m actually amazed at how easy it’s been to adapt to the new normal. Our class have been divided into two groups and we alternate between morning/afternoon sessions in the Clinical Skills Room each day. The staff have been really supportive with helping us build our skills and confidence back up again. Overall, the return to campus has been great and despite all the changes and uncertainty going on just now, everyone just seems happy to be back and we’re all working together to get through this.”
Since then BDS5 and BDS4 have returned to patient clinics. BDS2 and BDS3 have returned for a schedule of Clinical Skills teaching.