The gang enjoyed some twiglets and nuts before getting down to the business of making student life better.

The recent installation of chairs continues a run of a multi-million pound refurbishment in the School: new postgraduate suite, new clinical skills, new dental laboratories and now new chairs.

Roll on Manchester!!!

The Station in Piccadilly is the start of a special visit out.

At the other end of the line is Stoke station – a nice example of Victorian architecture indeed.

Just a short five-minute walk away is the Alchemy Practice – can you spot Caroline Sales and Christine Cotton running to get there?

They eventually do and here it is.

Alchemy is a state of the art, recently refurbished centre with four surgeries available for use by our BSc and BDS students.

Digital radiology and patient administration systems are the norm in each surgery.

A seminar and meeting area allows for a relaxed reflection on a day at the coal face.

This is one of many outreach centres that enable the learning experience for our students to be in a setting close to patient demand – Manchester has always taken great pride in being able to offer such a broad experience and is very grateful for all those who allow such ventures to be a success.

Thanks to Alchemy and Keele.

thefiller: Which dental school did you qualify from?

MA:   Liverpool. I managed to avoid getting the accent !  

thefiller: Which year was that (careful now, I can access the dental register!)?

MA:  1993 – The last year of the old curriculum, so we got it all done in four years and one term. That was some Christmas holiday..!

thefiller: What was your first job?

MA:  I stayed in Liverpool as a House Officer for 12 months. It was a great job to have, I learnt so much dentistry and lived pretty much the student life, with a salary (all £11,000…) I think it was a big mistake to change the system and get rid of the House Officer grade. Lots of really talented dentists don’t come back into the hospital after they have tasted life as a VDP. We are definitely worse off in the ranks of young clinical teachers, researchers  and hospital-based specialists. 

thefiller: Where else have you worked other than Manchester?

MA:  I stayed another year in Liverpool as a Senior House Officer and then moved to Sheffield in 1996, for five years, training to be a consultant. I also spent a day a week in Leicester, as part of the training rotation. 

thefiller: Why did you become a hospital dentist?

MA:  Lots of reasons. I always liked the hospital system, with so many clinical specialties. Being a student dentist was just a taster and there was a strong pull towards becoming better at what I already had been taught. I never felt the need to “get out of here as soon as possible” and didn’t have the urge to run an empire as some of my colleagues have.

Lots of my close friends were also staying on, or had started the hospital career in recent years, so that was an easy decision for me.

I’ve never regretted it. So many friends from those days have struggled to cope with the business or have got disillusioned by the “same old, same old, routine” whereas my job gives my new challenges every day. 

thefiller: Which member(s) of staff inspired you at dental school and why?

MA:   There were plenty who influenced me and several others who I hope I have nothing in common with now!  I should say Craig Barclay, as he is a colleague here but used to teach me in Clinical Skills in my second year. But I’d be lying ! Mr John Cunningham was a true gentleman, an NHS Consultant in Restorative Dentistry. Dr Leslie Longman seemed to know so much and was a real support when I needed advice. Dr Keith Last and Dr Tom Heaney were very influential in my perio training. 

thefiller: What is your clinical specialty?

MA:  I’m an NHS  Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, with special interests in perio, cleft lip and palate, implants and hypodontia. I am a specialist in Restorative Dentistry, Periodontics, Prosthodontics and Endodontics. Easy when I speak quickly ! 

thefiller: Why did you choose to do this specialty?

MA:  Process of elimination ! The early years as a House Officer and SHO let me see every specialty in close quarters. In Restorative Dentistry, there are so many avenues to explore. I get to do plenty of wet-fingered dentistry and work closely with colleague in all other specialties.

thefiller: What did your training involve and how long did it take?

MA:  1993 BDS, 1996 FDS, 2002 Consultant. Eight years from qualifying to consultant. As some old sage once said “the day you stop learning, you should retire”, so I guess the training has continued ever since I started.

thefiller: What do you like most about your job?

MA:   Variety and working alongside lots of other people. 

thefiller: What do you least like about your job?

MA:  Very little. You can either see this as a job or as a vocation. I’d love to prove myself academically, with a PhD and to have time to do more teaching. 

thefiller: What else do you get up to outside of work?

MA:  Is there such a thing ? Family life fills up the hours. We have a holiday home in Anglesey. The essence of pleasure is snowboarding or wakeboarding.

 thefiller: Tell us about your family.

MA:  Kate is a midwife. Marrying her was the best thing I ever did. I hope she agrees ! 10 years of wedded bliss (not blisters). Elizabeth (8) William (5) and Lucy (3). Elizabeth pulled her best friend’s loose tooth out in the playground, when she was 6..! Guess what she wants to be. 

thefiller: Which football team do you support? [as if we didn't know!]

MA:  It’s a bit like religion. Dad was a United fan, so I am as well. I loved being in Liverpool when Eric Cantona was in his prime. Dad and I and my brother James have had season tickets at Old Trafford since I was about 7. 

thefiller: What newspaper(s) do you read?

MA:   None. I get “The Week” on Fridays, a summary of the week’s news, but I can’t remember the last time I bought or read a paper. There is too much celebrity nonsense and bad news out there. I don’t want to be part of it.  (Surely, you mean the globally renowned “Weekly Update” by the good-looking Head of School????). 

thefiller: What’s playing on your iPod at the moment?

MA:  Absolutely nothing, because my all singing, all dancing iPhone won’t do either. There is nothing I find more frustrating that iPhone. Second one is four months, FIVE factory resets and reloads. Currently, when I try to upload my iTunes list, I am told ‘the phone is not compatible’. How can that be ? (not sure Martin, but I’d get a Blackberry).

thefiller: What are some of your all-time favourite songs?

MA:  I’m a child of my time, U2, Queen, Dire Straits are all in there somewhere. But generally, a very varied selection.

thefiller: What are some of your all-time favourite albums?

MA:   I should quote you and the cutter, some random Pink Floyd LP, but I can’t. A few of the greatest hits compilations always go down well. 

thefiller: Thanks to Martin for taking time out in his busy schedule to take part in the interview.

MA:  I’m not busy, I don’t like the word at all. My days are usually full but I’d hate to think I was too busy to give anybody 5 minutes of my time. (thanks Martin – we have appreciated it).

 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.

 Above; left to right – Noraina Norma (Ortho), Sie Wei Lee (OMFS), Rosa Nik Abdul Ghani (Endo), Wan WAn Hamat (Fixed and Removable Pros).

 Above; Back table left to right – Eleftherios Vlavakis (Endo), Usama Kubad (Endo).  Front table left to right – Yasmin Ardebilli (Implantology), Nizar Kharma (OMFS).

Above;  Left to right – Michailina Loudovioti (OMFS), Georgios Kallivretas (OMFS), Ioannis Ziounis (Implantology).

 Above; Left to right – Ali Alrahlah (BMS), Richard Currie (DPH), Janice Eatough (OMFS), Amani Shepani (OMFS), Sam Harris (International Office), Ahmad Alnazzawi (BMS).

Above; Left to right – Raga Abu-atwirat (OMFS), Eman Abu Hajar (Fixed and Removable pros), Ahmad El Ma’aita (Endo), Abeer Mokeem-Saleh (Endo), Kate Blundell (Endo), Assma Abognah (Endo).