Wednesday, 20th August 2025 - 09:00 to 10:30
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Timezone:
Dublin (IST, UTC+1)
Venue:
McNabb Auditorium TCDBS
Session type:
Type 2: Organised, planned and delivered by a subgroup, special interest group, community of practice of ADEE
Community of Practice Meeting
Session synopsis:
The UK General Dental Council introduced its new Safe Practitioner Framework detailing specific learning outcomes and behaviours expected from dental graduates (General Dental Council, 2023). This includes “Demonstrating cultural competency”, “respecting the diversity of patients and colleagues” and “Identifying relevant and appropriate dental, oral, craniofacial, and general anatomy (recognising the diversity of anatomy across the patient population) and their relevance to patient management”.
This emphasises the need for an inclusive and culturally competent approach in dental education. There remains limited research on how best to integrate Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and currently, there is little mention of this within the European Graduating Dentists Framework. The co-chairs are developing innovative holistic teaching to address these gaps, within dental anatomy education and the wider dental curriculum. This community of practice will support the knowledge exchange on these topics, while also gathering further examples of good practice from the European dental community.
Chair:
Speakers:
Learning Outcomes:
The session aims to provide delegates an opportunity:
- To explore the role that anatomy teaching can provide in promoting understanding of patient diversity in dental education
- Familiarise dental educators with resources that highlight anatomical variations relevant to clinical practice, such as differences in craniofacial structures, oral health conditions, and systemic impacts on oral anatomy across diverse populations.
- Empower dental educators to emphasise the importance of anatomical diversity in understanding patient-specific needs, improving diagnostic accuracy, and tailoring treatment plans.
- To understand the importance of developing cultural competence as part of the skill set required in dental education
- Familiarise dental educators with resources addressing cultural considerations in oral health care, including communication strategies and attitudes towards dental interventions in diverse communities.
- Empower dental educators to incorporate cultural competence into their teaching by using case-based learning, reflective exercises, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- To promote integration of LGBTQ+ inclusive oral health practices in the undergraduate dental curriculum
- Familiarise dental educators with resources on the unique oral health challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community, including those related to mental health and stigma.
- Empower dental educators to integrate LGBTQ+ inclusive health into dental education by embedding these topics into curriculum content, clinical training, and discussions, fostering an inclusive approach to patient care.
