Universities applied to:

I applied to UCLAN (postgraduate entry) and undergraduate entry at Bristol, Cardiff and Newcastle. I was fortunate enough to receive offers from all these universities.

Why I chose Newcastle University:

I chose Newcastle University for a few reasons. Firstly, I had lived and been to Newcastle University during my first degree and fell in love with the city. It is a fantastic place to be a student: it is cheaper than many other cities in the UK for food, entertainment and rent; it is close to the seaside and multiple national parks and the entire city is brought to life by two large campus universities, with over 50,000 students between them. 

Newcastle Dental School also has a proven track record for research in a variety of fields, and has clinical leads and lecturers who write the majority of the dental textbooks on the market. The dental school itself has an ethos which integrates staff and students on an unparalleled level - older years are there for support and advice with assessments and exams, and a truly open door policy with staff makes the school a fantastic place to study.  It also has an excellent student’s union which gives students the opportunity to be involved in a variety of sports and societies.

What my year of training entails:

In fourth year, we have clinics in the majority of the afternoons with lectures, seminars or laboratories in our mornings. Our clinics are organised into the different dental specialties, as well as undertaking afternoons on the radiology department and every two weeks in community dental care settings. The majority of our lectures are on human diseases, which is a condensed course in medical sciences, but we also have teaching on tooth wear, oral diseases and pathology, and crown and bridges. 

What the course is like:

Newcastle is a lecture based university - expect to have between five or six lectures per week, plus laboratory sessions on alternative weeks. The first year it is primarily based on biomedical subjects that form the scientific basis of dentistry. There is also an introduction to oral and dental anatomy and some clinical aspects of dentistry,

There are roughly 65-70 students per year group, with around 3-9 post graduate students per cohort. We start a Key Clinical Skills course after Easter in Year 2, where we learn the basic skills to treat our patients on phantom heads, before starting on patient clinics in our first term of third year. 

Challenges of being a dental student:

There are many challenges that can face a dental student, but for me personally these were my top five:

1.  Work-life balance - it is difficult to be a dental student surrounded by university friends who do not have the same university pressures as yourself, particularly in first year where you can have multiple exams, assignments and considerably more contact hours. The time you spend in university can also limit the activities you get up to outside of it. As trivial as it sounds, it is important to be able to practice self care; enjoy the new city you have moved to, and spend time away from university and the textbooks. You will be at university for four or five years; it is not a race and you should pace yourself for all the mental challenges you will inevitably face. 

2.  Quantity of information to learn - Although I found some of the content taught less challenging than my undergraduate degree, the amount of information you have to learn compared to A-Level and undergraduate degrees can be quite overwhelming. I would never recommend collating notes and looking over lectures for the first time in the run up to exams. Small amounts of preparation will help you in the long run.

3. Retaining information from previous stages - the amount of effort you put into each year really does help you in subsequent years. Each year is a building block for the next stage; understanding your tooth morphology in first year helps when you do your first posterior composite in third year. It is important to remember that in every exam you could be asked questions from earlier stages which rewards long term memory and not just last minute cramming

4. Responsibility and professionalism - dentistry is a professional degree, and the university and your patients expect you to uphold the moral and ethical responsibilities of a registered dentist. This can be an onerous task, and particularly stressful around patients who expect adequate treatment and care from you. 

5. Being a post graduate on an undergraduate course - Being on an undergraduate course with students who have just completed their A-Levels or had a gap year can be daunting if you are a postgraduate student. My advice would be to relish being a first year again, and you will find more similarities than differences between your peers.