Meetings and Conferences
The Dental Schools Council meets three times each year - in February, June and October. Dental Schools Council members are invited to attend each meeting, with observers from the General Dental Council (GDC), Council of Postgraduate Dental Deans (COPDEND), and the Deans of Dental Schools in Ireland.
Every three to four years, the Council holds a Stakeholder Conference to bring together undergraduate and postgraduate perspectives on the current issues in UK Dental Education.
Previous Meetings
Admissions Deans
29th April 2013
This event, co-chaired by Professor Paul Speight and Dr Paul Garrud, gave representatives from 27 medical schools and 12 dental schools the opportunity to consider the diversity of selection methods and how they achieve the aims of admissions policies. In particular the meeting considered the General Medical Council-commissioned review of admissions policies, along with the use of Situational Judgement Tests, values-based interviewing and multiple mini interviews.
The programme and report on the meeting can be downloaded here:
The conference programme is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Programme 2013
The conference report is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Report 2013
Admission Deans
7 April 2011, London
The annual joint meeting of the medical and dental school admissions deans was held on 7 April.
Representatives from 28 medical schools and 7 dental schools attended the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Professor Jon Cohen, Dean of Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Dr Muriel Shannon, Admissions Tutor for MBBS5 at St George's.
They led an informative agenda exploring fitness to practise issues at admission. Sessions included updates from UKCAT, GMC and SPA, and discussions on criteria for acceptable access/foundation courses and the future of widening access.
The conference programme is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Programme 2011
The conference report is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Report 2011
Admission Deans
20 April 2010, London
The second joint meeting of the medical and dental school admissions deans was held on 20 April 2010. The meeting was chaired by Professor Jon Cohen, Dean at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Members heard presentation updates from SPA and UKCAT and Kenton Lewis, Head of Widening Participation, at St Georges Medical School, presented on widening participation schemes. Following this, there was a series of presentations and a panel discussion, chaired by Don Spence, Admissions Dean at Birmingham Dental School, on conducting interviews.
The conference programme is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Programme 2010
The conference report is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Report 2010
Admission Deans
1 April 2009, London
The medical and dental school admissions deans met on 1 April 2009. The meeting was chaired by Professor Tony Weetman, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Sheffield and Professor David Yates, Director of Admissions, School of Medicine, University of Manchester. Discussions revolved around selection assessments, qualification equivalences and registration with the regulator and the Independent Safeguarding Authority.
The conference programme is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Programme 2009
The conference report is available to download
MSC and DSC Admissions Meeting Report 2009
2007 Stakeholder Conference 'Looking forward: educating tomorrow's dental team'
4-5 October 2007, Manchester
Nearly 80 delegates from the UK Dental Schools, the General Dental Council, the British Dental Association, COPDEND, ADEE and the Department of Health met together on the anniversary of the 2000 policy retreat to discuss and debate the future of dental education and research.
The conference programme is available to download
2007 Stakeholder Conference programme
The report of the meeting is forthcoming in the European Journal of Dental Education.
Wilson NHF, Jones ML, Pine C, Saunders WP and Seymour RA (2008) Meeting Report. Looking forward: educating tomorrow's dental team, Eur J Dent Educ 12 pp176–199
The report is available to download
2007 Stakeholder Conference report
Women in Clinical Academia:
Attracting and Developing the Medical and Dental Workforce of the Future
18 June 2007, Royal Society of Medicine
The final report of the joint Dental Schools Council and Medical Schools Council Women in Clinical Academia Working Group, chaired by Professor Deborah J. Sharp, was launched at a one-day conference. More information about the work of the group is available from the Medical Schools Council website
The Working Group report is available to download
Women in Clinical Academic Working Group report
