Page 60 - RADC 2023

Lecturing at University Brunei Darussalam
Major E Schlesinger
Whilst here in Brunei, an opportunity arose to deliver a lecture at UBD as part of their Bachelor of Health Sciences degree program.
The Bachelor of Health
Sciences at UBD
The aim of this programme is to educate students in basic medical and dental sciences to a level that will enable them to matriculate to Partner Dental Schools (PDS) in order for them to complete their full dental education. The Bachelor of Health Sciences programme runs over three academic years in Institute
of Health Sciences UBD, with enrolment in August and completion in July three years later. It integrates subject matters such as communication skills, ethics, environment, leadership, research, and statistics into major core modules such as Community Care, Dental Patient Care, Health Sciences, and Personal and Professional Development.
The first phase consists of three years at UBD after which students are transferred to one of the PDS for the second phase of the programme. Having successfully completed the first phase of the programme at UBD, the students are awarded the Bachelor of Health Science degree. The award of this degree
is a requirement for students to progress
to the PDS to complete the final phase of
the undergraduate dental programme, after which successful students graduate with degrees from respective partner universities, which are currently: (i) in United Kingdom
– Dundee University, Newcastle University, Glasgow University; and (ii) in the Republic of Ireland - University College Cork.
This engagement with the Host Nation, Brunei is aligned to CO 1RGR intent for bilateral engagement in Brunei - what can we offer them in return for our placement in the Indo Pacific region.
As my first time lecturing at university level, I was excited to delve back into the realms of academia. My interest in Dental
/ Medical Education has been sparked
by the in house training delivered at Seria Dental Centre over the past couple of years – giving Dental Nurses confidence in their competence and inspiring them to offer more to our patient base. Having recently enrolled on and begun a remote PGcert in medical education at Cardiff University this was the perfect opportunity to practice my teaching methods ahead the course.
The invited lecturer series:
Bachelor of Health Sciences (Dentistry) Year 1 Semester 1 (Session 2023/2024) Invitational Lecture Series
Communication Skills: Feedback and reflective techniques
Social Cognition: Impression formation/ making judgements
Attitudes and Skills needed for Dental Professionalism - Major Emily Schlesinger Communicating Treatment Plans
Turns out there’s lots of skills and attitudes that I could explore with the students! We had an enjoyable session sharing experiences and grasping the broad personality types associated with Dentistry.
I was sure to add in plenty of humour throughout and being a younger cohort, the use of memes went down very well!
Reflecting following the lecture, I knew very little about the cohort prior to the lecture - lesson learnt to enquire about stage of study, size of group when preparing the lecture.
Chief Dental Officer (England) Meets DPHC LS
Capt Katy Trinnick
DPHC(Dental) London South had the pleasure of hosting Col (Ret’d) Sara Hurley at their recent regional training day at Wellington Barracks, London. Col Hurley served in the Royal Army Dental Corps for 29 years rising to the role of Chief Dental Officer (Army). In 2015 Col Hurley left the regular Army, transferring the skills she had amassed in the military to the role of Chief Dental Officer England for the NHS. Col Hurley was the first woman to hold either of these positions, at the forefront of leading the dental profession before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Col Hurley delivered an engaging talk to the audience, sharing her insights and experience of military and NHS leadership. There was an emphasis on the team, rather than the individual. It
is impossible that one person can be a flawless leader; we are all human, fallible and incomplete. The team of people
that a leader surrounds themselves with needs to consist of people who fill the gaps, working together towards a shared goal. To do this, the leader needs to get to know themselves and let others know them. When critical demands are put
on a leader, having a tight-knit team is crucial to be on the front foot anticipating change, mitigating risk and formulating contingencies.
Inclusivity is also crucial for an effective team. Everyone’s viewpoint is valid,
even when other people’s views are not the same as the leader’s, they may be expressing the same views as other staff members or our patients and should not be disregarded.
Col Hurley ended the presentation with some poignant questions; inviting the audience to partake in some self-reflection to become stronger leaders and high- performing team members.
Quotes from the talk:
‘There is no crucible like the military for expert leadership.’
‘In order to be an effective leader, you also have to have followers who are just as passionate.’
‘Support your team in failure just as strongly as you would in success.’
‘In transformation the endeavour never stops, it becomes a 24/7 passion.’
58 RADC BULLETIN 2023
EDUCATION