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Why choose the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Education
98% of our Nursing graduates are in graduate-level employment (Guardian, 2024)
100% of Health graduates went into highly skilled employment or further education (HESA, 2023)
£5,000 a year available with the NHS bursary.
About the course
Providing unique opportunities to study dental care from ethical legal and professional perspectives this ground-breaking PgCert is the only University-accredited Law and Ethics course specifically designed for dental professionals.
Designed to fit in with your current work schedule this flexible part-time course combines eight study days with online and self-directed learning. You benefit from a wide range of learning and teaching methods including small group workshops; micro-teaching; action learning sets; case studies; presentations; critical-incident analysis; and individual and group work.
You are taught by a dedicated team of university and visiting staff who have wide-ranging legal and ethical expertise.
Why choose this course?
- Study the ethical challenges and dilemmas that occur in dental practice; propose possible responses; and support these with well-argued rationales
- Deliver tutor-supported assessment tasks tailored to allow you to deal with the real issues you encounter in your professional life
- Develop the ability to effectively appraise your own approach to practice using independent or collaborative methods to identify and respond to your needs
- Gain the capacity to independently and critically evaluate legal and ethical issues that are relevant to your own practice
Interested in the course? Please make sure you submit your application by 1 July 2024.
Course schedule
The PgCert Dental Law and Ethics includes 2 units, over two semesters.*
| Time | Location | Date |
| 10:00 - 4:00 | Bedford campus | Tuesday 24/9/2024 |
| 10:00 - 1:00 | Online | Tuesday 15/10/2024 |
| 10:00 - 4:00 | Bedford campus | Friday 8/11/2024 |
| 10:00 – 1:00 | Online | Monday 25/11/2024 |
| Time | Location | Date |
| 10:00 - 4:00 | Bedford campus | Monday 20/1/2025 |
| 10:00 - 1:00 | Online | Friday 7/2/2025 |
| 10:00 - 4:00 | Bedford campus | Thursday 27/2/2025 |
| 10:00 – 1:00 | Online | Monday 17/3/ 2025 |
*All units are core, face to face contact takes place at Bedford campus, exact teaching rooms will be communicated via our online system (BREO) – dates may be subject to minor changes
Get in touch
For more information please contact the course lead Dr Hoda Wassif via email hoda.wassif@beds.ac.uk
Course Leader - Dr Hoda Wassif - Associate Professor in Medical & Dental Education
I am a Principal Lecturer in Medical & Dental Education and Portfolio Lead Pre-Professional & Continuing Health Education Portfolio, part of the School of Nursing and Health Education.
As portfolio lead, I offer academic leadership and support related to a range of courses in Pre-Professional and Continuing Health Education including; Advanced Nursing Practice, Nursing Associates, short courses in health systems as well as Medical & Dental Education.
What will you study?
Dental Law In Practice
This unit aims to:
· Provide you with a comprehensive overview of aspects of the law as they relate to dental care and practice
· Enable you to adopt a critical, analytical and reflective stance towards ‘dental’ law and its’ application
· Develop an awareness of the risk associated with legal issues and recognise how it can be managed through the dental team
Ethical Dental Practice
This unit aims to:
- provide you with a comprehensive overview of selected ethical issues relating to the provision of high-quality dental care
- enable you to enhance your analytical and reflective stance towards ethics and values in relation to dentistry
- further develop awareness and anticipation of ethical dilemmas that may arise and impact upon patient care
How will you be assessed?
This course has been designed as a blended learning course combining face-to-face learning (during study contact days) with supported interactive on-line learning.
In addition the course requires students to make explicit links between their learning on the course and their own individual practice. This is primarily through the assessment strategy and by allowing students the flexibility in selecting their topics for assessment tasks.
Students also have the chance to reinforce their knowledge by linking the legal and ethical theory into their practice through developing an artefact that emerges from their chosen topics. Teaching learning and assessment activities across the course are designed to enable students to rehearse and hone skills required for their assessment tasks.
For example working in groups to study reported cases in the media and legal and ethical cases from the GDC help students in their selection and later in their analysis of legal case law and their links to dental practice.
The assessments for the course has been developed to ensure that:
- You are able to demonstrate achievement of course learning outcomes at masters’ level
- There is alignment to learning and teaching methods
- Assessments are relevant to your workplace based practices
- You are supported to develop relevant workplace related skills operating in a legal and ethical framework
Careers
This course is designed to develop the skills and practices of dental care professionals with an interest in legal and ethical dental practice. You can enhance your legal role in dental practice (such as practice managers or clinical leads); indemnity organisations; primary care organisations; or acting as an expert witness to legal firms.
