Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Education

A row of dental students examining models of dental patients.

Advance on your pathway as a dental educator

This course has been designed collaboratively by University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) and the School of Clinical Medicine’s Clinical Deanery.

The Postgraduate Diploma reflects the increasing emphasis placed on educational and educational-leadership roles. It builds upon the Postgraduate Certificate in Dental Education and enables students who have successfully completed it to convert their certificate to a diploma.

The course offers opportunities to extend expertise in curriculum design, assessment practices, faculty development and educational supervision (longitudinal roles that include mentoring, supervision and appraisal of dentists and dental care professionals, including those in training).

Ready to progress further as a dental educator? We look forward to your application.

Course Dates

Our learners

Kivlyn, MSt in Genomic Medicine

“Each module brings together such a diverse group of learners. You meet people from all walks of life, and that makes the learning experience even richer.”

Charlotte, Undergraduate award: Certificate of Higher Education in Pre-Medical Studies

“Studying in Cambridge was a huge draw, but more than that, the course helped me realise that nothing is impossible.”

Who is the course designed for?

This is a one-year, part-time course, leading to the qualification of Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Education. Teaching is a blend of in-person contact days at The University of Cambridge, and online synchronous/asynchronous engagement.

This programme is designed for all dentists and dental professionals involved in undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing dental education. The programme is only open to those who have successfully completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Dental Education at PACE, which is the first year of the pathway.

This postgraduate diploma is aimed at those who currently have or aspire to have educational roles in dentistry, including:

educational supervisors
clinical supervisors
training programme directors
dental deans
directors of dental education
continuing professional development providers

The programme is open to:

dentists
dental nurses
dental therapists
dental hygienists
dental technicians
dental specialists
dental specialist core trainees
consultants
academic dental staff

The course is suitable both for those based in the UK, and worldwide.
The University of Cambridge is a member of the Association of Dental Education in Europe.

Aims of the programme

The programme's aims are to:

develop individuals’ ability to adopt an informed and critically reflective stance to their own and others’ practice as dental educators and leaders
invite consideration of strategies to create and sustain safe working and learning environments, including supporting and developing faculty to deliver high-quality dental education and training
establish the features of high-quality formative and summative assessment practices and how these are used to assess performance and support the development of learners, foundation programme participants and trainees (including differentiation of performance and supporting trainees who are failing to progress)
support a focus on curriculum and course design at two levels i.e. firstly, to enable an informed critique of adopted curriculum, their limits and potentials and secondly to familiarise participants with core curriculum design skills

Learning outcomes

By the end of the programme, students will be able to demonstrate the following:

a critical appreciation of the ways in which dental learning and practice are conceptualised and how this is reflected in curriculum design and implementation decisions, including assessment strategies
learner- and patient-centred approaches to dental education, training and assessment, that are appropriately aligned to relevant professional curricula and standards
the ability to purposefully draw upon a range of educational theories and concepts, as a basis for analysing and enhancing approaches to dental education and training
the ability to propose novel approaches to the development of their own and/or others educational practice, in the response to changing circumstances and/or needs

Progression

Upon successful completion of the Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Education, students may apply to convert their diploma to the MSt in Dental Education, 1 year, part-time. Please note that the MSt is not guaranteed to run each year.

Teaching

The course is delivered through in-person and online teaching sessions requiring attendance in Cambridge, self-directed and peer learning, and synchronous and asynchronous approaches provided via the course Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

During the diploma, teaching is provided in conjunction with learners undertaking the Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education, to foster a shared learning environment. There are separate breakout sessions for the dental and the medical learners, to focus on the specifics of their own profession. Small group, task and project-based work is an important element of course design that links teaching, learning and assessment activity. Teaching and learning are jointly facilitated and moderated by the dental and medical education course directors and faculties

The PG Diploma is comprised of 3 modules and combines in-person study days with online activity, study and assignments. There are 9 contact days in total and in-person attendance is mandatory.

Below are the expected teaching dates for this course. If they change, we'll update offer-holders in line with the University's terms of admission. Exact teaching dates will be added to this page in due course.

Module 1

Curriculum and assessment: design and development

October 2027 (1 day in-person teaching)
November 2027 (2 days in-person teaching)
December 2027 (2-hour online session)

Module 2

Supporting work-based learning

January 2028 (1 day in-person teaching)
February 2028 (2 days in-person teaching)

Module 3

Developing practice and leading learning

March 2028 (1 day in-person teaching)
May 2028 (1 day in-person teaching)

Assessment

There are 3 assessment points, one formative, which helps students develop, but which does not contribute to the final award (first term) and 2 summative in the second and third terms, which do contribute to the final award.

Assessment will be through a range of formats which may include coursework, presentations and projects and will total 9,000 to 12,000 words.