Dentistry @ Manchester Blog

For our first year BSc and BDS students, managing the transition from School/College to University life is a big one; being away from home, finding and making new friends, cooking and financial prudence are usually new challenges to conquer.  In addition, self-discipline becomes an essential attribute to master, as support from family is usually more distant.  On top of coping with the new way of life, the learning environment also presents new challenges.

 The School of Dentistry in Manchester is well known for its use of of problem-based learning and we can see here one of the first “PBL” sessions of the year, facilitated by Mr Alan Jack….

 In the formative years of  recently bespectacled Professor Nick however, the standard method of learning academic aspects of the course was by attending lectures.  On the positive side, it felt comforting, as you felt pretty sure that they only covered material that would come up in examinations.  Also, if you had a good lecturer that was enthusiastic, sometimes dull subjects, could be made more fun.  My particular love of a good lecture was one riddled with humour – let’s face it, lectures are delivered in “theatres” where drama is usually seen to unfold.  On the flip side it was all to easy to limit your future revision to the lecture-based material alone and in addition, lectures did not offer the opportunity to discuss any areas of confusion.

 More recently, there has been a trend, especially in Medical Schools to deliver teaching using problem-based learning.  Ardent disbelievers of such an approach often refer to this style as “do it yourself”, whilst firm advocates suggest it prepares the student who will be better able to source answers to a problem in the future.  The jury would appear to be out on the most effective method of delivering education, however, I read an article in the British Medical Journal by Diana Woods who is Director of Medical Education and Clinical Dean at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine.  The article is interesting, to quote:

“Surely it is time to stop arguing about the process and ensure that diversity in undergraduate educational provision is related to declared outcomes and delivers doctors who have the required competencies for good clinical practice” (please refer to the full article – BMJ 2008; 336).

This summarises the view that the working group in the School of Dentistry took when its new curriculum was introduced in 2006.  In Manchester, we take the view that  a blended approach, where problem-based learning plays just a part, alongside symposia, seminars and coursework is the most diverse and  best way of educating excellent dentists of the future.

Furthermore, the belief in Manchester is that not only should the course achieve the best outcome but as importantly, that the journey should also be fun.

My parting thought has no answer or even attracted much research – should learning be competitve????? – I’ll keep my view to myself.