Rachel Green, Ashleigh Stamp, Charlotte Currie and Simon Stone presented a series of presentations as part of the Pre-Clinical Skills Special Interest Group workshop at the ADEE conference 2017 in Vilnius, Lithuania on “Bridging the Gap Between Preclinical and Clinical Training” in dental education.

As the main speaker, Simon discussed the challenges of transitioning into the clinics focussing on student welfare and resilience.  Following this Rachel presented the Newcastle University undergraduate extraction experience, focussing on the competency based assessment used for forceps and surgical exodontia.

Ashleigh discussed the teaching of dental extractions under sedation with Dental Hygiene and Therapy students, including the practical and psychological challenges our students encounter, and Charlotte presented the various practical local anaesthetic teaching models available, and the approach and rationale taken at Newcastle.

The Newcastle University team then facilitated a series of small group discussions on the European-wide challenges and experiences of bridging the gap between preclinical and clinical education with the workshop attendees, this will lead to further work within the Special Interest Group and ADEE.

Charlotte Currie, School of Dental Sciences