Module manager: Stuart Boomer
Email: s.boomer@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
As per Dental Surgery Programme/ Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy Programme admissions requirements.
This module is not approved as a discovery module
In this first module of the Clinical Skills and Practice theme, you will be introduced to evidence-based clinical knowledge, basic clinical skills such as oral hygiene instruction, and professional behaviours which will equip you to learn safely and effectively within the clinical environment. Key experiences will include clinical observations, clinical skills classroom sessions, haptic simulation, and small group clinical activities. You will be encouraged to develop your reflective skills which you will use going forward as you progress within this theme.
This module aims to introduce students to the fundamentals of safe clinical practice in dentistry to prepare for advancing levels of clinical practice in the subsequent years of the programme. This will involve the basic knowledge, skills and behaviours required to practice in the simulated and real clinical environment.
Students will be introduced to the oral environment, and the fundamentals of patient assessment, to identify normal clinical findings in order to distinguish between health and disease and the signs and symptoms of common oral diseases.
Students will be introduced to the simulated clinical environment and undertake gateway assessments in basic operative skills.
Students will recognise and begin to demonstrate the professional behaviours expected in the clinical environment in relation to teamworking, communication, and reflection on progress.
Students will learn through activities which comprise lectures, seminars involving group work, clinical skills classroom sessions and experiences in the real clinical environment.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Describe the key elements of safe and evidence based clinical practice.
2. Identify normal clinical findings in the oral environment.
3. Describe common oral diseases and their management at a fundamental level, including the identification of risk factors and the planning of preventive care.
4. Demonstrate a range of basic skills required to undertake safe practice under close supervision in the simulated clinical environment.
5. Recognise the behaviours expected of an early-stage student dental professional in relation to teamworking, communication, ethics and professionalism, self-management, and reflection on progress to support safe clinical practice in the simulated and real clinical environments.
Demonstrate the practical skills required to learn safely in a clinical environment, through reflective practice, communication, and perseverance:
ES4 - self-confidence, initiative and perseverance
AS1 - reflection
Technical:
1. Demonstrate appropriate infection prevention and control measures including PPE in the clinical skills environment.
2. Demonstrate safe use of periodontal hand instruments and dental handpiece in a simulated environment.
3. Demonstrate safe use of local anaesthetic equipment in a simulated environment.
4. Demonstrate professional clinical behaviours in clinical skills and real patient clinical settings.
Principles of safe working in the clinical environment.
- Mandatory training (e.g. Fire safety, cross infection control, health and safety, principles of information governance and digital data management)
- Infection prevention and control
- Induction to clinical skills and clinics
- First Aid Training
- Oral and Systemic Health and Disease
- Introduction to systemic disease in relation to oral health and management.
- Applied clinical knowledge of normal oral anatomy
- Introduction to common oral diseases.
- Clinical aspects of periodontology and cariology (clinical presentations and management of simple cases)
Patient assessment
- Introduction to taking a patient history with focus on medical, dental and social history.
- Introduction to risk assessment
Prevention of Oral Disease
- Prevention of periodontal disease and caries.
- Introduction to behaviour change
- Introduction to oral hygiene instruction, diet, smoking and alcohol advice.
Operative Techniques
- Simodonts for basic dextrous skills
- Basic periodontal clinical skills
- Introduction to local anaesthetic equipment and techniques.
Clinical Behaviours
- Basic principles of communication in the clinical environment
- Observation of teamworking and patient/clinician interactions
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Sessions | 9 | 3.5 | 31.5 |
| Lecture | 23 | 1 | 23 |
| Practical | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Practical | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| Practical | 9 | 3.5 | 31.5 |
| Seminar | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Seminar | 7 | 1 | 7 |
| Independent online learning hours | 7 | ||
| Private study hours | 76 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 117 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
All pass/ fail elements in the module must be passed to pass the module overall.
Coursework:
The Continuous Clinical Portfolio is an ongoing, continuous assessment process throughout the academic year. Students will receive verbal and written feedback on their gateway assessments, and clinical experience gradings through the Clinical Assessment and Feedback System (CAFS). Students will be required to reflect on their progress and the feedback they receive and to plan their ongoing development. Students will receive outcomes from the Clinical Progress Committee as to their continuing progress and any cause for concern to allow them to remediate before the end of the year.
Online formative learning activities throughout the year will help students to reinforce learning and prepare them for the end of module assessments.
Written Assessment:
A formative examination at the end of Semester 1 will combine content from all modules in Year 1. This will allow students to experience a formal University environment with a low-stakes outcome. Students will experience the range of question types across Year 1 modules and receive feedback on performance. The aim is to prepare students for the assessment at the end of Semester 2.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Continuous Clinical Portfolio Sign-Off (Pass/Fail) | 0 |
| In-course Assessment | FORMATIVE EXAM: written assessment (single best answer style questions) 2 hours. | 0 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 0 | |
The Continuous Clinical Portfolio is a Pass for Progression element of the Clinical Skills and Practice 1 module. The continuous monitoring and Sign-Off for individual students is managed by the School of Dentistry Clinical Progress Committee. A student must be Signed-Off by the Clinical Progress Committee to allow progress into the next year of the programme. This ensures that students have met the General Dental Council Safe Practitioner Framework behaviours requirements as they progress through the programme. The Clinical Progress Committee holds meetings for all cohorts of students 4 times per year. This allows regular and timely monitoring capability and remediation as required. The Continuous Clinical Portfolio will comprise the following elements: - Satisfactory completion of clinical mandatory training requirements - Satisfactory completion of simulated clinical skills gateway assessments - Continuous clinical experience grading including: > Satisfactory clinical attendance record > Consistently satisfactory continuous assessment of knowledge and technical performance > Consistently satisfactory continuous assessment of behaviours in relation to interpersonal skills - communication and teamworking, professionalism, and self-management > Achievement of minimum clinical experience requirements at the level of a Year 1 Dental Surgery/ Dental Hygiene Dental Therapy student. - No outstanding issues reported by the School of Dentistry Professionalism Committee. - Absence of Health and Conduct Committee (Student Fitness to Practise) sanctions or limits to clinical practice (report presented to the Clinical Progress Committee from the Director of Student Education).
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 1.0 Hrs 0 Mins | 0 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 0 | |
In-person closed book, time limited examination (Pass/Fail). Formative Assessment in Year 1 is a combined 2-hour examination with content from all Year 1 modules. This will be scheduled as one examination. The allocated time for each of the 4 Year 1 modules will be proportionate to the module credit size.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
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