DTUK1810

Students in Residence Elaine Halley details the first residential course for the MSc in Restorative and Aesthetic dentistry, held recently in London T he first residential for the Msc was held at the Strand Palace Ho- tel in London in mid-May. The flight down was an excellent opportunity for me to catch up on the background reading so I arrived feeling well prepared! The residential was compul- sory for all students and started with an overview of the re- mainder of the course by Fiona Clarke from The University of Manchester. The diversity of the stu- dent group was evident – I met students from Kenya, India and Qatar, as well as the many different nationalities working in the United Kingdom – it made for fascinating lunch-time conversations! There is also a real mix of age-groups and experience, from young NHS associates to the not-so-young (myself included) private prac- tice owners. For many of us, learning about the thesis was nerve- wracking but essential! We are to start thinking about possible topics for this research project which will be a structured clinical review rather than a clinical or laboratory based project. This is to fit in with the distance-learning nature of the course. Fiona advised us that the thesis comprises the last six months of the course start- ing in May 2011 but we should start collecting references and sources as we come across them. We will be assigned a tutor in due course who will make suggestions and offer guidance but this is a major undertaking – there was some nervousness about the un- known nature of this expressed by participants. This nervousness was quick- ly overtaken by the realisation that this is a clinical MSc – we seem to have had it fairly easy in the first unit which has con- sisted of lectures and assess- ments. Now, the dentistry is really going to be evaluated – we have 26 clinical cases to submit for Units 2 and 3 of the course! A lot of time was spent on photography and being sure that we could all take the correct photos and are able to upload them onto our learn- ing plan and send them to be evaluated. I am pleased to re- port that after a slight panic about how to attach my flash, my photography came flooding back to me – I managed fine although must book myself in for a whitening after seeing my caffeine tinged lower incisors on the big screen! The clinical cases so far include six whitening cases, simple orthodontics, restora- tion of the endodontically treat- ed teeth and single tooth indi- rect restorations. I think we are going to have lectures in the practical techniques but at this point I’m not sure. The current unit’s lectures are mostly about communication, legal record- keeping etc – we have two with Kevin Lewis coming up on Thursday. After photography, Chris Orr covered treatment planning and shade taking with an eye-cross- ing exercise in matching values on the computer. All of this with Covent Garden beckoning out- side and an ash cloud to disrupt our homeward travel – the joys of CPD. DT UKP00246 Increments up to 4mm without layering Flowable for excellent cavity adaptation Compatible with your current adhesive* For a free sample** please call or email us on: The revolutionary way to save time *Chemicallycompatiblewithmethacrylatebasedadhesivesandcomposites.**Limitedsamplesavailable +44 (0)1932 837303 (quoting free SDR sample) About the author Elaine Halley BDS DGDP (UK) is the BACD Immediate Past Presi- dent and the principal of Cherrybank Dental Spa, a private practice in Perth. She is an active member of the AACD and her main interest is cosmetic and advanced restorative dentistry and she has studied extensively in the United States, Europe and the UK. July 12-18, 20106 MSC Blog United Kingdom Edition