August 2007
The School of Dentistry wishes to congratulate Professor Trevor Burke on his recent marriage to Nerina at Christ Church, Winchester on Saturday 25th August. The weather was glorious and the day was a very happy event. The bride looked beautiful and transport to and from the church was in two traditional Charabancs. There was a champagne reception at their house followed by a sit down reception in a Marquee in the garden. The speeches included a recital by Trevor on the piano accompanied by Nerina. The evening entertainment included fireworks and dancing into the early hours of the morning with a Soul Band. The pictures show one of the Charabancs and the happy couple.
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It is a lovely sunny day in Birmingham and the Bank Holiday is almost upon us. I hope you have a great weekend. Here is a view of the Bull Ring and the Rotunda building overlooking Moor Street station.
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The School is relatively quiet during August but there is still activity on the Research floors as people catch up on projects and are able to utilise the periods that are released from no teaching for 6 weeks.
Those colleagues that have been busy in the School are the Admissons team of Donald Spence and Frances Deen. When the A level results are released there is a flurry of activity as the number of entrants for the School are confirmed. The telephone is red hot as calls come in to confirm places or to ask for advice. Donald and Frances will be taking a well earned rest after this hard work.
July 2007
As final update to July Frances Deen one of our secretaries has provided an account of Graduation Day Friday 20 July 2007
Graduation Ceremony (Great Hall)
"We arrived at the campus in torrential rain and made our way to the Great Hall. We hoped the weather would not dampen the atmosphere for the graduands about to be conferred their degree. We were seated behind our dental students and felt very proud to be part of their special day. The orchestra filled the room and the procession commenced.
When all were seated and with the welcome speeches over Professor Lumley was invited to speak to the congregation, this was a very personal address and pertinent to our school and was a fitting start to the proceedings. After all the students were congratulated by the Chancellor, Sir Dominic Cadbury there was a pause in proceedings and two honorary graduants were presented to the audience. The ceremony came to an end with an address by Sir Dominic Cadbury wishing all students well in their chosen careers. The theme music to the Dambusters filled the Great Hall and the final procession began."
Prizegiving (School of Dentistry)
"The prize winners and audience filled the Alexander MacGregor Lecture Theatre, The Director, Professor Lumley entered followed by the academic staff. Susie Sanderson – the guest speaker was introduced by Professor Lumley and invited to present the awards. Susie Sanderson is Chair of the British Dental Association Executive Committee and the school was delighted that she was able to attend our prize giving.
Mrs Sanderson proceeded to congratulate each winner in a very friendly manner presenting them with their various chosen gifts and certificates, spending a short time with each to enquire what they had done to achieve their prize.
After this part of the ceremony was complete Professor Lumley explained a new prize which is in the programme for this year ‘The award for excellence in teaching’ this is a University prize available to each school, there were many nominees from the Dental School and with a majority vote the Curriculum Team were duly awarded the prize for their contribution to the school. Professor Lumley presented certificates on behalf of the school and each member received a bouquet of flowers.
Dr White addressed the audience to honour the leadership and hard work of our Director, Professor Lumley and he was duly presented with a gift on behalf of the staff and students of the school.
Mrs Sanderson then offered her congratulations to the newly conferred graduates and prize winners of the school and the proceedings were closed by Professor Lumley with an invitation for all to make their way to the canteen for traditional strawberries and cream.
On reflection although the weather was appalling, the day was the most enjoyable graduation day I have attended since my time with the School, the families of the students were still happily socialising in the canteen well after 5pm whether this was because of the bad weather or the hospitality, I don’t know I would like to think it was down to the welcoming atmosphere of the school."
Graduation Ball - Saturday 21 July 2007
"We arrived at the Burlington Hotel to a champagne reception, the theme to the evening was ‘Las Vegas’. The meal was excellent followed by the speeches, I was asked to say a few words on behalf of the students thanking Ann Ward for her support and inviting her to collect a thank you gift of engraved cut glass from the students. Ann said a few words of appreciation and wished the students well for the future. It was then the turn of Praveen Sharma and Ajit Tanday who presented Lynne Reynolds, Karen Williams and myself with an engraved cut glass thank you gift.
Alastair Webb spoke on behalf of Professor Chapple wishing the students a happy and successful future. Professor Lumley took to the stage and with his usual humour addressed the guests and assured the students that they have had an excellent education with the best teachers and all should do well in their career.
The DJ started and the dancing began well into the early hours of the morning with a range of music from the 60’s to Bollywood."
Your Blogger would like to thank Frances Deen for this account of Graduation Day and the Ball.
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It was good to see Dr John Morris receive his DDS at the Graduation Ceremony and the picture below shows John with current colleagues from the Unit of Oral Health Dr Kirsty Hill, Dr Deborah White and former colleague Dr Gill Bradnock.
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A quick note to say your Blogger is on Holiday. Updates on Degree Day and the Graduation Ball will be posted on my return. Until then have a great time whereever you are!
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Dr David Attrill was on the town last night with his 3rd year Firm A. Stirchley Bowl was the place to be and with Kanny Ratna part time teacher from GDP also there it was going to be a fun time. The students had five bowling lanes up and running. The girls had two lanes to themselves with Mr Kanny Ratna joining them and trying every trick in the book to get a strike. The front runners were AJ (SHO), Tem and Dr Attrill. There was fierce competition between Tem and Dr Attrill but experience won through. Finally the pressure got through to Tem and Dr Attrill won on his last two bowls. 
Suniel and Naomi gave out the prizes and a set of badges with very interesting names was awarded to the boys and girls' teams. There were other prizes too and AJ was awarded the best bowler of the night with the highest score. There were prizes for those with the lowest scores and they know who they were. Kris Coomer came to join us and the group left the Stirchley bowl in high spirits. Everyone made for the Soak in Selly Oak to keep the good times going. The evening showed the great student spirit at Birmingham Dental School between Staff and Students. 
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Being involved with IT is not easy as you have to be on top of your game in every respect. James Rimell is synonymous with IT in the dental school since 2001. So it was sad to hear when it was announced that James would be leaving the Dental School on 23rd August 2007 to work in the Czech Republic. The school met to say thanks to James and the leaving speech was given by Professor Walmsley. James' achievements in IT have been many especially in relation to the networking advances, creation of the new undergraduate and postgraduate clusters, wireless networking and databases for our teaching and research.
Professor Walmsley gave him presents of
James was well liked in the building and has done a lot for the school and we wish you well with your future in the Czech Republic.
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Frances Deen is our Admissions Secretary and part of the Curriculum Team in School Office. On Sunday she took part in the "5km - Race for Life 2007"
This is an account of her experience.
"Sunday must have been the wettest day on record but I was determined to do my first sponsored walk/jog as it was for such a good cause. I arrived with family and friends at Sutton Park which was absolutely water logged I could hear BRMB in the background and I walked into a fantastic atmosphere, it was very emotional as people had very touching messages written on their backs about the loved ones they had lost to cancer.
You had to accept that you were going to end up wet and muddy and with that in mind I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will definitely do it again. I completed the course in approx 50 minutes and will aim to beat this next year."
Well done Frances - the School is proud of you. If you wish to donate to this cause then please visit the Race for Life 2007 Website
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The end of an academic term draws near and we are in the last week. The calender consists of exam results for the 2nd years and instrument checks for the 3rd years. There are some evening functions with the students and we look forward to degree day on Friday followed by the Graduation Ball on Saturday night. Then the holidays will begin in earnest.
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A crowded Osborne was the scene for the farewell presentation for Catherine Lambe. Although she has been with us just under a year, Catherine has made an impact on the school and is a popular member of staff. This was in evidence as people crowded in to hear the farewell speech given by Professor Walmsley. He highlighted her achievements in her research, clinical and teaching responsibilities. Catherine is returning to Ireland to be nearer her family. She will be missed and the School wishes her well in her future endeavours.
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Anthony Roberts, lecturer in Periodontology is leaving us at the end of this term. Anthony qualified from Birmingham in 1996 and after house jobs came back to work in Birmingham as a lecturer. He gained his PhD last year and was also a Head of Firm on the teaching side. His leaving presentation was held in the Osborne room and Professor Iain Chapple gave a witty tribute to all the hard work and commitment that Anthony had given to the school. Anthony is leaving us to take up a position at Manchester Dental School and we wish him well in his new job.
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The school met to celebrate the life and times of Ann Ward one of our secretaries. Ann came to work for the University from NHS and joined the curriculum team in 2001. Ann is based in School Office and her main area of responsibility was the Medical sciences which then became BASHD (Basic and Applied Systemic Human Disease Sub Committee). This involved a lot of organisation with a variety of staff and individuals both within and outside the building. Ann worked hard but also enjoyed her work and this was always appreciated by both staff and students in the building. Her retirement presentation was held in the Board room where Phil Lumley gave a witty speech and this was followed by presentations from the students. Ann then gave a moving reply to the speech and thanked everyone at the School for making her job so enjoyable. Prof Lumley also announced that the Curriculum team of Ann, Frances Deen and Karen Williams has been awarded the Head of Schools Award for Teaching Excellence.
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Clinical Practice is one of Birmingham's great strengths in learning and teaching. The students' are organised into three firms (Firms A, B and C). Each Firm is around 20 to 25 students in size. There is a head of firm and deputy appointed who each have responsibilities for one of the student years in the Firm either 3rd of 4th year. In Clinical Practice the students treat their own patients starting from the 3rd year with work which is simple in nature to more complex procedures as they pass through 4th year to reach the final year phase, General Dental Practice. The Firm is staffed with a mixture of full time and part-time staff. General Dental Practitioners working in the NHS or private practice supervise and teach the students. The learning process is of the highest standard and a comradery develops. This is most evident in the Firm Dinners that take place at the end of term. Last night your Blogger was present at the Firm C dinner took place at Strada Italian restaurant at the Mailbox. It was organised by Shaila Vasant and the staff included Rachel Arnold, Carl Horton, Mike Millward and Tom Addison. Lots of things were discussed and students get to meet staff and interact with them.
The Pictures show Carl Horton and Rachel Arnold, two of our part-time GDPs. Rachel is Deputy Head of Firm. The second shows the students and staff enjoying themselves.
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Trevor Burke's Masters in General Dental Practice moves from strength to strength. Last night it was the annual BBQ where Masters’ students and staff socialised on the lawns of Horton Grange. The food was of a high standard and it was an opportunity to discuss the course or just discuss dentistry as only dentists can! Trevor gave the speech and thanked everyone for coming along. He outlined the continuing success of the course and he felt that he had only been able to undertake such an opportunity of running a successful course because of the foresight of the School of Dentistry at Birmingham. For this he thanked both Professors Lumley and Marquis. Trevor presented a bouquet of flowers to Lynn Malthouse in recognition for all her work with the Masters. Peter Sands and Tom Fox gave a vote of thanks from the Students and presented tokens of thanks to Trevor. It was then Philip Lumley’s turn to express gratitude to Trevor for all his hard work and also asked everyone to toast Trevor for his forthcoming marriage to Nerina in August. Whilst it may have been a coldish July night it did not dampen spirits and the overall enjoyment of the event.
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One must think that it is all play and no work at Birmingham! After a hard term's work, it is good to look forward to the social aspects occurring within the School. This afternoon and evening is a busy affair. In a few minutes it will be Ann Ward's retirement presentation in the Osborne room. Ann has worked very hard for the school especially in the area of Medical Sciences. Her sense of humour and happy smile in School Office will be missed. This evening there is Trevor Burke's Masters in GDP BBQ - an event that is not to be missed. However the students are also busy and one of the Clinical Practice Firms (Firm C) is having their Dinner at Strada at the Mailbox. There will be further reports tomorrow on what took place at these various events!
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On a rainy night on Broad Street, Old Orleans restaurant was the place where the school celebrated Catherine Lambe's birthday but also said goodbye. Many of the SHO's and postgrad students were present including Prof Walmsley, David Attrill and Kris Koomer. The event was organised by Sara Tapait-Pour who arranged the birthday cake and presents. AJ came with the flowers and cards. The party ballons caused chaos in the restaurant but it was good fun and leaves Catherine with good memories of Birmingham. The pictures show crayon drawings on the table cloth which is a feature of the restuarant and a happy Sara and Catherine.
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We thought it was going to be a day without rain but at 4.00pm the rain came back. It should not dampen the spirits of one of a couple of leaving parties taking place over the next two weeks. Tonight it is for Catherine Lambe who is returning to Ireland. Drinks are at 6.30pm followed by dinner at 7.00pm so I will be signing off on this wet Birmingham night and providing an update on my Blog very soon!!
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The main trouble with Bloging is that you have to always have something to write as many people will come to expect an entry each day. Yesterday was an active day with our Summer term Staff Development Day. Phil Lumley started the day off giving us an update on the new College system that is being introduced into the University. This was followed by Dr Deborah White who gave us an update on the very successful Part-time away day that was held on Monday. The rest of the morning revolved around discussion on the content and delivery of the Curriculum. Many good suggestions were put forward on this subject. The discussion followed on at the Curriculum Development Committee. Elsewhere in the University, there was the Graduate School Council where the School of Dentistry was able to provide a report on its successful Training Needs Analysis Day.
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We are very fortunate to have several dental editors at Birmingham including Professor Trevor Burke who is Editor of Dental Update. Today Stuart Thompson Publishing Director of Dental Update was visiting the School of Dentistry. The Journal is very successful publication and allows both General Dental Pratitioners and students to keep abreast of the latest developments in dentistry within the UK.
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Following on from the last successful development day for part-time staff, Dr Deborah White, Head of Learning and Teaching has organised another for these staff. Such days help with teamwork for the building and allow the part time staff who are an important teaching resource for the school to cover different topics of importance. The day consisted of lectures and discussion which were well recieved by the part-time teachers. Such teachers are the life blood of the building and include both general dental practitioners and salaried staff working in the community. The general dental practitioners are valuble as they provide an insight for our students into the working of the National Health Service. The successful day was rounded up with a well deserved meal at Pizza Express.
June 2007
A great day! The postgraduate day had been arranged for several weeks and was billed as the Training Needs Analysis day. The University is very keen that every postgraduate student completes a TNA form which assesses their research skills and helps them to reflect as to where they can further improve their skills. The University have used the Robert's monies to generously fund activities that leads to a higher profile of the requirement to complete such skills during training. The University allowed each postgraduate tutor throughout the University flexibility in how they apportioned such funds.
In Dentistry, we made sure that there was work involved in such a project but this also allowed the graduates in the graduate school, the opportunity to enjoy ourselves. So whilst the aim of the day was that every postgraduate student completed a TNA form, there was also time to have fun, network and socialise.
Thirty PG students plus the Graduate school committee met for Croissants and Coffee at 9.00am. There was a brief introduction by Professor Damien Walmsley followed by a lecture by Professor Tony Smith on publishing your work. Tony is editor of the Journal of Dental Research and lectures on this topic internationally. He covered the area in depth which was appreciated by all concerned. His presentation covered how to write a paper. He advised us to get to know your audience and how to write a paper but making sure you have a story to tell about your research. It was a great opportunity for our postgraduate students to hear and learn from an International Editor of his wisdom and experience.
Next Professor Walmsley presented "Ask the audience" and through the use of keypads asked a series of questions which ranged from "Who plays the Master in Dr Who" to "which is taller the Rotunda or the Chamberlain Clock Tower". The answers to these questions are (1) John Simm and (2) The Chamberlain Clock Tower. The final series of questions related to research and included "Who is the Editor of Biomaterials" and to "Which is not a funding council". The keypads were pressed furiously as the PG students attempted to deliver the correct answers. This was followed by a brief lecture by Professor Walmsley who covered the five research skills covered by the TNA: Research Context, Research Practice, Career Management, Communication skills, Personal effectiveness. These were outlined and examples given on how to personally assess your own requirements in these areas. Then it was the coffee break, pictures of everyone for the PG records and then it was work by the students. They were split up into three groups and asked to complete their TNA form. Following this the participants were divided into three groups and asked what courses would help them achieve the aims of their TNA. The presentations were very informative and lively and finally brought the morning to a conclusion.
After a good lunch, the PG students relocated to Teamworks Karting where we had a racing competition. Teamworks Karting is run out of a large disused warehouse in Digbeth and had the advantage that is was undercover. We were provided with racing clothes and allocated a racing number. Following a team briefing and 5 laps of practice it was onto the competition proper. It was fast and furious. The electric powered Karts packed a punch and there were thrills and spills. There were some interesting action as both Kris Koomer and Ian Edwards cut each other up and were black flagged! Sinead was an early leader for the girls as was Bernhard Felver for the boys. For the PG committee Gabriel Landini was fast but not fast enough. After four heats, eight people made it into the final. This was over 10 laps and almost immediately it was all over for Phil Tomson who spun on the first corner. Mike Millward quietly got into the pole position and there was not stopping him and he held out till the end. He was a worthy and popular winner. In second position was Ian Edwards closely followed by Dick Shelton. 
The presentation ceremony was held and following a group photo it was time to get changed and head for the bar. By this time networking has certainly taken place and all postgraduate students were starting to know each other and find out what each other was doing. One of the commonest questions was "I did not know that you worked in the Dental School as I have never seen you around".
The final part of the evening was a meal at San Carlos in the city centre. Some of other PG students who could not be with us for the afternoon arrived. The food and company were first class and a great evening was had by all. One could not fault the food which was delicious and enjoyed by all. Phil Tomson thanked Prof Walmsley and Louise Finch for their organisation of the day. Everyone left in high spirits and agreed it was a great day and one that will be remembered at the School of Dentistry for a long time in the Postgraduate circles.
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The fame of the Birmingham Ecourse was reported in the BDJ article by Paul Downes.
Downes PK. (2007) Dental resources on the Internet. British Dental Journal 202: 719 - 730
Paul stated "Birmingham School of Dentistry offers dentists some good online resources"
The only other school mentioned was the Eastman Dental Institute which unlike Birmingham is a Postgraduate Institute only.
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Friday night was the Dean of Health Sciences' BBQ at Horton Grange. Luckily the weather held out and we were able to enjoy a drink outside before sitting down to dinner. Representatives from teh new College were present including Medicine and Nursing. Your blogger had a difficult journey home as there was flooding on the line after Leamington Spa but the trains to Solihull and Dorridge were still running.
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The Fourth Year results are done and dusted and congratulations to all you passed. For those lucky ones there maybe an overseas elective or a research project in the School of Dentistry. Students are flying around the world from Osaka to Sydney from the USA to the Orkney Islands. The next time we get to see them will be in September !!!
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Message from Saniel Gandesha (Chair of BUDSS)
Hi
Hope you are all well. Would just to say a 'BIG THANK YOU' on behalf of BUDSS for making the Statford Pub Crawl such a great success. It was a fantastic day and we did not do to bad, as we only had 2 incidents!!
Would just like to announce the name of the winner of the ' BEST DRESSED'. It was a tough one, as there were so many fantastic outfits, and so many people had put in so much effort. But we finally decided the winner to be;
**WILL STORY (BDS 2)**
If you wanna see how he looked on the day, pictures will be up on our BUDSS website soon....The winner was awarded a bottle of the best RUM!!
Well thats all for now. Hope to see you all at the next BUDSS event..the 'staff-student cricket match' on the 4th of july!
Kind Regards
Saniel.
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If you are on Facebook or are thinking of joining there are many groups related to the Dental School. Dentistry at Birmingham UK is the newest one on the block and is administered by Prof I Terole. But there are others organised by 2nd years and 4th years. It is fast becoming a method of contacting present students and the Dentistry at Birmingham UK is also bringing in past alumni of the Dental School. There are several discussions going on and it is also a good area to alert students to developments that are taking place on the ecourse. Several staff are also on the site and the discussions that are taking place are really interesting and show the ingenuity and creativity of our dental students. So if you have not jointed the Facebook revolution then why not join and find out another side of what is happening in the Dental School.
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Another wet start to the week after a fine Sunday. The final years are finishing off their patients and will be looking forward to graduation day. For the 4th years it is a different matter. This week the Medical Sciences vivas take place and there are a few people in School Office who will be happy when the end of the week arrives and all the administration will be over. Once these examinations are over then it is elective time for the 4th years and the building will start to become a little quieter.
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The Final Year Committee would like to invite you to the
FINAL YEAR GRADUATION BALL
The ball is open to everybody who wants to come, including all the students in the clinical years and support staff. Do not feel like it is exclusively for the final year students...a good time is guaranteed for everybody!!
Date: 21 st JULY @ The Burlington Hotel (New Street) 7.00 pm till 2.00 a.m.
Price: £45 BUDSS Included in the price are the following:
(£35 for all the nurses, porters, cleaners and the admin staff as a special thank you for all your support throughout the years)
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Champagne and drinks reception
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3 course meal with fine wine and soft drinks
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DJ
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Entertainment
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Raffle - prizes will be announced soon all money raised will be going to the charity organisation SKIP
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Clockroom
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Further details and tickets are available from any member of the final year committee:
We will also be around on clinics 4E, 4W, 5E on monday and thursdays.
Ajit Tanday
Praveen Sharma
Muneeza Malik
Selina Takhar
Mehreen Umar
Kamalpreet Panesar
Sana Iftikhar
We will start selling tickets on Thursday 14th June before we break up...Deadline for buying tickets is the 28th June 2007 the more money we get in, the more incentives we can add to the ball! Ajit Tanday
Thank you, and look forward to seeing you all there!!!
Final Year Rep
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I don't know what it is like in your part of the world but here in Brimingham it is very wet! The rain came down yesterday and overnight leaving us with a very sodden city. Just come in by the train to Snow Hill station and flooding on the line between Birmingham and Solihull is forcing trains to slow down. At least when I look out of the window the rain has stopped for now but the weather forecast is for more rain on Saturday. Hopefully we should see some more of Summer soon.
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News just in Owen Addison had his PhD viva today and has been awarded the degree subject to minor ammendments. Owen took up the position as Lecturer in Restorative Dentistry last year. His PhD was titled "Optimisation of pre-cementation techniques and the strengthening mechanisms of resin cemented all-ceramic restorations".
On behalf of the School of Dentistry - Well done - it is well deserved.
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13/06 Ruth Poole writes as follows: -
Five of our postgraduate students presented their research at the first University of Birmingham Graduate School Poster and Networking Conference. The event was held in a marquee in Chancellor's Court, where a diverse range of posters were on display. David Musson, Andrew Curtis, Joanne O'Beirne, Bernhard Felver and Ruth Poole were kept busy all day, explaining their work to a lay audience and networking with students from other disciplines. The many visitors included some familiar faces from the Dental School staff and students, whose support was much appreciated. Although we didn't win any prizes, all participants felt that the experience was worthwhile and good preparation for future conferences. We're now planning how to win next year!
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After all the excitement early on in the week it is back to business with three clinical practice teaching clinics, Speciality teaching clinics of Periodontology, Oral Surgery, Paediatric Dentistry, Prosthetics and Conservation all taking place. Also the 4th years are in the middle of their Medical Sciences examinations with the papers finished there are still the vivas to do. A typical busy hectic day at Birmingham Dental School.
Just checked the BBC weather forecast and it doesn't look that bad this weekend so whatever you are doing enjoy yourself and talk to you sometime next week.
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The Local Dental Conference was a great success. Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen is the President and welcomed all the delegates to the Conference Dinner at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. The guest of honour was Clare Short who delivered an inspirational speech encouraging dentists to move forward in spite of the difficulties that they faced. She particularly praised the efforts of Eddie Crouch from the Birmingham Local Dental Committee and his work on Challenge.
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Professor Philip Lumley is speaking at the Annual Local Dental Committee conference in Birmingham and will be speaking about the future that faces our graduates when they leave the Dental School. Both Philip and Damien Walmsley are guests of the LDC at the Annual Dinner at the Hilton Metropole. The guest of honour is Clare Short MP.
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The Stratford Crawl was a great night out. At 5 o'clock, 4 coaches left Birmingham full of dental students. One of those coaches left the dental hospital and contained many staff including house officers and nurses. Along the way Kris Commer arranged to pick up Prof Walmsley and it was Stratford here we come.
There were Pirates galore and there were many varied and interesting takes on the Pirate theme. Everyone was issued with a map of Stratford attached to a lanyard which gave details of each pub and whether it offered cheaper drinks and food/snacks. The pubs included the Hole in the Wall, Shakespeare, the Queen's Head and the final destination which was Yates. At each pub there was a chance to meet different years of students and have a good laugh at what they were wearing. It was easy to spot your Birmingham dental student as they were either a pirate or they were wearing a red shirt specially printed for the occasion. Anna Jephcott and Kirsty Hill were the focal point amongst staff although others were there including Ian Preston, Alistair Millward, Chris Dakin, Kan Ratra and others. Past students were there in abundance and Dr White and Mr Perryer came later to join in the fun. At the final pub it was such a fine evening that everyone spilled over in the street to talk, chat and where there was a final year congratualate them on passing. Then it was a case of getting them all back on the coaches for 10.30pm so that they could all return to Birmingham where for some there was to be some clubbin'.
A great night organised exceptionally well by Captain Saniel Gandesha, Chairman of BUDSS and his enthusiastic team of helpers.
(Pictures of the event will be on Facebook for those who have pirate "friends" !!)
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Congratulations to all Birmingham University Dentists who passed their finals today. Well done to you all from everybody at the School and Hospital.
As a teachers and to all those other people in the school (secretaries, dental nurses etc), it is so pleasing to see your students' faces when they know that they have passed their examinations. Last night was no exception as the students' gathered around the notice board waiting for Professor Lumley to put up the list of successful candidates. Cries of joy and laughter including that immortal line "I've passed" are heard throughout the building.
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The second day is the unseen cases and this is where our students have to examine a patient that they have not seen before and then are examined by three examiners on their management of the case. The range of cases is wide and varied and it is an unknown factor. However as our external examiners from other schools remarked our students performed exceptionally well and this was reflected in the high marks that were obtained. Also the orgnisation of the day is impressive and our staff including the dental nurses have it all running like clockwork. It is a long day and finished at 4.45pm and then it is to the Board Room to collate the results. Hopefully the results should be out by 6,00pm.
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So here we are and today is the second but more importantly the final day of finals. Today is the unseen patient where the students examine a patient that they have not seen before and present their findings to a team of examiners. Your blogger will report later on how the day turned out for students and examiners. Until then good luck to all our students!
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The first day of finals was a busy and hectic time. Day one is Presentation case day where the students present thier patients to a team of examiners. This is done with the patient in the chair and the presentation includes a poster board. The candidate is then asked to present their patient during a 20 minute viva. With around 70 students and 5 teams of examiners, it is a long day which started at 9.00am and finished at 5.00pm including several meetings at the end of the day. In the evening the main team of external and internal examiners met at the Thai Edge near Broad Street for a meal. The food and company was excellent and everyone adjourned for tomorrow and the second day of finals.
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Finals has started and today is the presentation case. Everyone is in nice and early and ready for the examinations. All the secretaries are getting ready for last minute organisation and our students are getting ready with their patients. Good luck to everyone concerned.
May 2007
Dr Will Palin is speaking at the European Dental Materials Conference and writes about it as follows -
"The European Dental Materials conference has been a very successful meeting in past years. It is a relatively small and more informal gathering than the larger conferences (without the usual hefty registration price tag) and offers specific insight into dental material research with keynote speakers from both academia and industry."
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It is Reading week but many final year students are in the building wanting to check that their presentation cases are OK and checking that they have all the information correctly put together. Next week is the big day with Monday for presentation cases and Tuesday for the unseen.
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Just registered on Facebook and found many of our dental students past and present are on there. One of the topics of conversation is the finals cases which are just around the corner. Also found some staff members on the site including Prof I. Terole. If you are interested in finding out more then register and take a look around.
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Spurred on by previous successful evenings the Dental Hospital Music Society is holding a concert on 12th June in the AMLT at 5:30pm. Entrance will be £2.50 on the door and include refreshments. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to St.Mary's Hospice.
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Friday at the BDA conference has been interesting. The talk by Didier Dietschi on composite restorations was of the highest standard and his aesthetic results on both anterior and posterior teeth were remarkable. His emphasis on good treatment planning following a biological approach was refreshing. Other presentations that were of interest included a debate on the changing landscape of primary care which was delivered in a humorous and entertaining way by Richard Hayward, Dean of FGDP(UK) and Derrick Willmot Professor of Orthodontics at Sheffield. There was a packed room of mainly young practitioners who heard details of the new MJDF examination which commences this October. The evening "garden" party was held in the beautiful surroundings of the Old Swan Hotel where it was possible to meet with other delegates and reflect on the day over a drink.
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It has been a good day at the conference and it is always nice to catch up with Birmingham students who are now in their VT year. Prof Chapple talked to a packed Auditorium and his talk was well received. Prof Walmsley was chair of the session which saw Michele Corrado, Head of Medicine and Science Research at MORI speak on trends on Consumer healthcare. The talk by Paul Downes was also of interest as he spoke on the Internet informed patient. The exhibition hall was packed during sessions where it was possible to get a free tube of toothpaste or catch up with old friends. The BDA conference is becoming one of the leading UK meetings and with the wealth of speakers and other attractions it is easy to see why.
Today (24/5/07) sees the start of the British Dental Association conference at Harrogate. Professor Iain Chapple who will reviewing new developments in technology and the treatment of periodontology is talking this afternoon in the main conference auditorium. A report on the conference will be with you over the next two days.
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Many of our senior staff are visiting other Dental Schools to act as External Examiners to their final examinations. Dr Deborah White has been part of a team of external examiners overseeing the examinations at Dundee Dental School which is one of the first schools to hold finals. Other schools hold their finals over the following weeks. For instance next week Belfast have their examinations followed by Birmingham on the 4th and 5th June. This Blog wishes every success to all final year students taking their examinations this summer.
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Your Blogger is in Hong Kong visiting the Prince Philip Dental School as part of a Universitas 21 initiative. As we reported in an earlier item Ruth Poole, postgraduate research student was awarded a U21 travel grant to meet with Dr John Dyson in Hong Kong.
We arrived in Hong Kong where the weather is +30s degrees centigrade although it is very humid. Air conditioning in the dental school does make a big difference. Ruth met with Dr John Dyson (Associate Professor in Oral Rehabilitation) and we discussed ways forward on joint research projects between Birmingham and Hong Kong. Also in the party is Professor Walmsley and Dr Simon Lea. Prof Walmsley is giving a presentation to the Prince Philip Dental School staff on the "elearning continuum" on Thursday and then the group is presenting their research on "Good vibrations in Dentistry" on Friday. This also gives Ruth Poole an opportunity to deliver a lecture as part of her U21 award. Ruth will be spending 2 weeks in Hong Kong and then following it up with a trip to China to see friends there. There is also the chance to explore Hong Kong and already we have been on the Star Ferry and ridden on a Hong Kong Tram. Tomorrow we will be taking the tram to see the Peak which provides fantastic views of downtown Hong Kong and Kowloon. Don't worry there is hard work being done as well. Part of our visit has involved meeting with the Dean, Professor L. Samaranayake and discussing the forthcoming main U21 meeting in Hong Kong at the end of September 2007.
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Captain Saniel Gandesha, Chairman of BUDSS has announced the SHIVER ME TIM-BURS!!! event or better known as the Stratford Crawl 2007. The theme is Pirates (Argggh!!!)- dress to kill!! and will take place on Wednesday 6 June 07. It is the Staff student event to be seen at and happens just after finals. A report on the event will follow in due course.
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Welcome to the working week.
Although it may be dull outside, it is a hive of activity within the building. A dental school and hospital has many different facets to it and there are people working hard on every floor. There is the NHS activity which looks after the patients coming through the front door who require dental treatment. There are also new patient referrals to consultants and different treatment clinics. There is a whole team working towards this patient treatment including dental technicians, dental nurses, receptionists and many others. There is the management area dealing with diverse issues from employment to finance and there are the porters, estates team and cleaners all geared to promoting a good patient experience of our hospital.
The University side interacts with the NHS via the students and teaching staff. Our students are a large provider of treatment to patients that come into the hospital. Not only are there dental students but we have Biomaterial Science undergraduates plus the School of Dental Hygiene and not forgetting the course for dental nurses run by the NHS. The teaching staff are involved with close supervision of our students but also provide tutorials, lectures and other learning and teaching activities. The secretaries make sure the academics are well organised and maintain the timetables etc. There is also Research in the School which is an important activity especially as we will be judged on our performance in the forthcoming Research Assessment Exercise 2008. This Research allows us to be at the forefront of dental knowledge and remain a leading school. To support our research there are over 40 postgraduate students who work through out the building (and some are external).
It is only possible to give a snapshot of what happens every day in the School and Hospital and there are too many people to mention in a short paragraph who help with the success of the building.
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The periodontal unit is also quiet as the majority of the staff have left to attend the Spring Scientific Meeting of the British Society of Periodontology which is taking place at Edinburgh on Thursday and Friday. It is a special meeting for Mike Milward as he presented a keynote presentation on the "Periodontal considerations in the older age group". His talk was well received by the delegates and we congratulate Mike on his talk.
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The building is very quiet as there are examinations for the Final years (Papers 1 and 2) together with First and Second year examinations as well. The canteen is rather quiet although the other years do make enough noise to fill the gaps. The School wishes them all the best of luck in their examinations.
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Another week finished and the May Bank Holiday is almost upon us. It is going to be nice on Saturday but heavy rain for Sunday and Monday. What would Bank Holidays be like without rain People in the school are busy as always and there is last minute revision happening amongst the final years as the papers are almost upon us.
The BUDSS Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday where Dr Hill and Neal Raval gave their overview of the year. Furthermore the society is in good financial shape. Saniel Gandesha was elected the new Chair of BUDSS. The AGM was followed by an after-party with loads of snacks, pizza, beer, wine and soft drinks which took place in the student common room.
Our staff our busy promoting the school and Catherine Lambe spoke at the Annual R&D Annual Conference 2007 at the Postgrad Centre, City Hospital, Birmingham 3rd May 2007. This was hosted by MidReC, The Royal College of General Practitioners (Midland Faculty) and R&D for Birmingham and Solihull PCT Consortium. She presented our highly successful podcasting programme and also presented a poster on her research into the Biological effects of Ultrasound.
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Carl getting ready to run whilst Phil shows some leg exercises. Both Phil and Mel running their 1 mile leg of the relay around the University Campus. Bernhard Felver It is a great opportunity for them to explain their research to people outside their field and to learn about the diverse range of research going on at the University. There is also the opportunity to win a £500 prizes to support conference attendance for the best three posters plus 7 runners up prizes. The10 best posters will go through to a regional competition in Warwick on the 11th July. 
The Dentists were the official entry into the University Corporate Relay Challenge on May Day. On a glorious evening in Chancellors Court, the team of Professors Philip Lumley and Damien Walmsley, Dr Melissa Grant and Mr Carl Horton lined up in the mixed relay. The course started at one end of Chancellors Court and then looped around the inner green past the Library and Staff House onto the University Ring road. The turn around led past the Munroe Sports centre under the Muirhead Tower and onto the Barber Institute. Once we reached the East Gate it was a turn back into the centre of the University and then onto the start/finish line. Carl Horton started off for the Dentists followed by Prof Walmsley. Mel Grant did a sterling job as the only female in the team and Prof Lumley ran a sub 6 minute mile. We are unsure which position we came in and it might have been 5th or 6th but we will have to wait to see the official result. Afterwards the team regrouped and swapped stories over a well earned drink in the Staff Bar.
The evening was a great success and the winner was the Charity Mencap. Many companies were represented at the relay including BBC Midlands Today. The University was at it's best interacting with the community. Congratulations to all the organisers for making it such a great event for everyone.
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Five of our postgraduate students are representing the
We are being represented by
Ruth Poole
Joanne O'Beirne
Andrew Curtis
David Musson
The event will run from 12am until 4pm on Tuesday 12th June 2007. This is a great advertisement for the depth and breadth of research that is being undertaken at the School of Dentistry.
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Today is the 1st May and it is looking a great day in downtown Birmingham. Tonight Phil Lumley, Mel Grant and Carl Horton with Skipper Damien Walmsley are taking part in the Corporate Relay Challenge at the University in aid of Mencap. Details of how the team got on will be in tomorrow's blog. Meanwhile enjoy the day and the first day of spring.
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April 2007
Today the School Office is a mixture of excitement and sadness. It is the retirement party for Maria Sullivan who works on the accounts for the school. She also controls the stationary cupboard which to many people is very important for pens, papers, computer discs etc. Maria is good fun and everyone will miss her sense of humour and talk about her best friend Teddy (her dog)
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Nicola Robinson a final year student at Birmingham has had her first paper published in Launchpad. This is the student journal of the British Dental Journal. The title of the paper is "Decision time" and Nicola gives you her advice on how to pick the perfect patient for your final case presentation which is a topic of high interest to all final year dental students at this time of the year.
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It is a glorious morning in Boston USA where your Blogger is at a meeting hosted by Two Ten Health. The School of Dentistry and CPD-HQ have been invited to present on the elearning that is undertaken in the School. Email is a wonderful communication tool and everyone back at base is working hard for forthcoming summer examinations.
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Professor Iain Chapple was speaking at the Annual Irish Dental Association in Cork this weekend (20-21st April 2007). He gave two lectures at the conference. On Friday his first talk was "Periodontal medicine – a window on the body" and on Saturday morning "New approaches to managing inflammatory periodontal diseases".
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End of the week and Elsevier Books were in the building. Alison Taylor from Elsevier entertained a select group of students. The aim was to find out what text books the students found useful. Also they were asked what types of books they would like to see published in the future. One particular feedback that Alison received was the high popularity of our elearning course from our students.
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The School of Dentistry is getting involved with a relay challenge taking place on the University campus on May 1st in aid of Mencap. It is proving hugely popular around the Univeristy. The School is hoping to enter at least one team in the event. Please come and support us in the event which will be from 7 till 8 pm at the University running track on 1st May,
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Welcome back from your Easter break. The weather was fantastic over the last week and many of our students and staff took advantage of the week's holiday to either rest at home or travel to exotic locations around Europe. This is going to be a busy term for all years of students but mostly for a final years who now see the end in sight with finals not far away.
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Birmingham was involved with a meeting in Dublin Dental School over the 13th & 14th of April at an advisory meeting on the Profile and Competences of a European Dentist. This was part of Taskforce I remit organised by DentEd III and the Association of Dental Education in Europe. The invitees to the meeting included representatives from the European national registration and competent authorities, European specialist dental associations, Council of European dentists, European Chief dental officers’ organisation. The aim of the meeting was to seek advice on these organisations for the revision of the above document. There was much discussion about the paper and there was also a presentation from Mr Alan Hegarty from the University of Limerick about the European Tuning Project which fits in with this project. The document will be revised for 2009 but already it is seen as an important document for the newly qualified European dentist. Dublin was a great place for the meeting and the weather was fantastic. As always a friendly city whose people always give you a warm welcome.
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Happy Easter !
Your blogger will now go quiet over Easter.
The School of Dentistry wishes everyone a peaceful and restful holiday
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(5/04) On the final day of the conference there were presentations by Tony Smith and Paul Cooper in the Mineralised tissue section and this was followed by Ruth Poole who gave her first presentation at the conference on “Vibrations of High-Speed Dental Handpieces measured using Laser Vibrometry”. All the presentations given by Birmingham were at a high standard.
It was then time to start to say our goodbyes as the Birmingham group made their way by train or car back down to Birmingham . The Conference was a huge success mainly to the great organisation of Newcastle Dental School and Birmingham wishes to congratulate them on making it so enjoyable.
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(4/04) It was another busy day at the conference where Professor Iain Chapple gave his presentation to a crowded room with standing room only. In the afternoon the following people gave poster presentations, Catherine Lambe, Phil Tomson, Simon Lea, Damien Walmsley and Paul Bartlett from Cardiff University but working with Birmingham. It was a glorious day in Durham and it was warm in the conference room. The highlight was the evening with the annual dinner being held at Hogwarts hall. It is a glorious setting and the witches and wizards were there to greet us. The meal was served in the great hall of Durham Castle and this was followed by the speeches. Finally there was a great Jazz band with people dancing to the early hours of the morning. Don’t forget there is still another day of the conference to go!
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Report on the BSDR River Cruise - Minibus or walking everyone got to the boat for 7.30pm and we set off on the river cruise around Durham. There was plenty of liquid refreshment and the Newcastle organising team of Jill Smith, Mark Thomason and the rest of the staff made it really enjoyable. Back in 2004, Professor Walmsley organised a canal boat trip that did not go too well for the Newcastle delegation and he received a few complaints. The Durham boat trip was well organised and went very smoothly. In order to show there were no hard feelings Jill Smith organised a Champagne reception for Professor Walmsley on the top deck! The views of the Cathedral and Castle at night were excellent and after an hour and half it was time to get back onto dry land and get some food. Although it was dry it was a cold night the Birmingham delegation was please to sit down and eat. The Restaurant was De Medicic Ristorante on Elvet Bridge. The food and service was excellent and it was a chance for everyone to meet and have a good discussion about the conference, the school and life in general!
Afterwards it was a walk back to a late discussion session at Collingwood Hall. The last of the Birmingham delegation got to bed at 2.30am. It is going to be another long day at the conference for some people!
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The River Cruise is about to start!
Prof Walmsley enjoying a Champagne reception courtesy of Jill Smith from Newcastle
The team looking relaxed although some are too relaxed!
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(03/04) The conference got into full swing and the first of the Birmingham contingent presented at the BSDR Senior Colgate Prize. Owen Addison gave a great presentation on his work of “The impact of cementation and storage variables on ceramic strengthening”. In a parallel session, Bernhard Felver gave an interesting and varied talk on his work “Cavitation Analyses around Ultrasonic Scalers”. This session was chaired by Professor Iain Chapple. There were many sessions on and there were four lecture theatres running at the same time so as usual it is a case of moving from one session to another. Occasionally there are clashes as there may be presentations of interest on at the same time. Ben Scheven gave a polished presentation on his work “Ultrasound Effects on Odontoblast-like cells In Vitro.
There were many lunches being held and a popular choice is always the Dental Materials Group one. Garry Fleming a former old boy of Birmingham is the Treasurer and he is always able to get generous sponsorship. This year the funding was kindly provided by John Rafelt at 3M ESPE.
In the afternoon there was a mixture of symposia and the poster displays. Both Kirsty Hill "Evaluation of dentists' needs regarding treatment of the anxious patient" and Anthony Roberts "Organisms Associated with Abscesses Acquire Iron from Transferrin Using Norepinephrine" were presenting and it was a very busy session with lots of interactions and discussions. After this it was time to recharge batteries back at Collingwood Hall ready for one of the social highlights the River Cruise around Durham.
Durham Cathedral from the river
Lots of interest at Kirsty Hill's Poster
Much interaction and discussion at the posters.
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(02/04) The British Dental Society for Dental Research is on this week and Birmingham is well represented. Many of us arrived in Durham on a beautiful sunny afternoon via planes, trains or automobiles. The conference residence is in Collingwood Hall and once booked in it was time to meet other delegates in the bar prior to the opening reception. The Welcome reception was sponsored by the Dental Academic Staff Committee of the British Dental Association and Blackwell Munskaard. There was plenty of wine and food and it was also an opportunity to renew old acquaintances from the world of British Research. There was a late bar till 12 and people drifted off back to their rooms for the next days sessions.
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I hope you all had a good day on April 1st.
Today (2/4) the school is very quiet as it is coming up to the last week of term before Easter but more importantly many staff are making their way to Durham. The conference runs from this evening till lunchtime on Thursday. It is hoped that we will be able to provide a flavour of the activities that occur at this important national conference in the year of the Research Activity Exercise (RAE 2008).
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THE BIG MATCH
Staff Vs Students Football
Tonight - Astroturf Pitches - Bristol Road, Main Campus - kick-off 6.00pm (ish) and for liquid refreshments and post-match analysis in a close-by hostelry. Come and support (or ridicule! - your choice) the staff team, for what should be a good evening. All welcome - especially if you are advanced life-support trained, or have your own defibrillator.
Cheers,
Dominic Stewardson and Will Palin
and the result was..........
Staff 2 - Students 4.
A valiant effort nonetheless. Staff were 2-0 up at half-time
March 2007
The Periodontal Research Group includes
Primary Dental Care is represented by the following people
Dr Ahmad Hamdan and Mr Jason Perry are also presenting their research
Finally Professor Tony Smith is a joint author on Professor Jacques Nör paper. Jacques is from the Dental School at the University of Michigan USA and is visiting Professor at the School of Dentistry, Birmingham. Tony is also presenting at a symposium titles "Pulp Fictionand Reality".
All in all this is an impressive turn out of presentations from the School and we wish them well in their presentations at the conference.
The weather in New Orleans features strongly in Tony's diary but it is pleasing to see him working hard at the conference (20/03)
"IADR business meetings today with a 4 hour IADR Council meeting - tiered dues for members on the way, which will hopefully benefit attracting members from less well off countries and extensive discussions on the new regional structure for IADR, which should provide a robust framework for the organisation to develop in the future. IADR Council Dinner this evening in the Zoo restaurant - very convenient for fresh meat on the hoof ! Temperatures in the 70s, which beats the cold of Brum this week !"
----- Tony Smith writes frim New Orleans (19/03) "Arrived safely indeed. Just had a late breakfast with Angus & Mark + Bob Ten Cate. Catching up on emails, then need to prepare slides for my talk later in the week before hopefully a little stroll around N Orleans. Nice view overlooking the Missisippi river from my room & temp in the mid70s - hope it's not too cold in Brum !" ------ IADR starts this week in New Orleans and Professor Tony Smith will be keeping us up to date with news from the conference. However his first report (18/03) reveals that travelling to such conferences is often not as glamourous as it first seems. ------------ Some news just in at Number 13 in the Dentistry magazine Poll for the top 50 most influential people in the dentistry. These results have been compiled in their annual readers' poll at the magazine. Congratulations Trevor! ------------ The Music Society invites you to join them for a night of music inspired by the silver screen including Rock songs, Pop songs, Instrumentals, Bollywood and Musicals. The event will take place on Tuesday 27th March in AMLT at 5:30pm, refreshments will be provided at half time and included in the ticket price of £2.50. The proceeds from the event will be donated to St.Mary's hospice. You will not find high quality, live music anywhere else for a better price. So come along and support your friends and colleagues. ------------ Walking to the dental school from Snow Hill train station and it is a beautiful sunny morning in downtown Birmingham. The last few days show that spring is finally here. On my iPod I am listening to “Mr Blue Sky” by the Electric Light Orchestra which is very appropriate as Jeff Lynne who wrote the song is from Birmingham. This link to iPods allows me the opportunity to announce that a series of 5 new Podcasts have been released on “Photography for the Dental Practitioner”. This features Mike Sharland who is Head of our Audiovisual services at the Dental School. Mike outlines a variety of tips and advice on dental photography. Last night we had our School Committee and much of the news that has been announced on the Blog was covered but there are some updates. Dr John Morris has been awarded his DDS. Congratulations go to John Congratulations also to Stephane Simon on the arrival of his second daughter "Sarah" who was born in Birmingham on 21st of February. Stephane is undertaking part of his PhD with us jointly with Paris. Stephane "presented" her at the dental School on Friday 10th March. The presentation also included a glass of French champagne. The French certainly know how to do things like this properly. Catherine Lambe won the "Rewarding Excellence in Learning and Teaching (Dental)" award for 2007 for her account of podcasting within the Dental School. The prize is awarded by MEDEV of the Higher Education Authority and includes conference registration, accommodation and travel to the ADEE Conference, 2007 which takes place at Dublin Castle in September. David Attrill has been elected to the council of the British Society for the Study of Prosthetic Dentistry to serve for 3 years Philip Lumley took up office as President of the British Endodontic Society last week and will be President of the Society when the Dental Pan-Society Conference “Dilemmas & Decisions in Dentistry” takes place on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th November at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham. --------- Cheese and Wine Quiz Will Phil Tomson's trannies win again? Will Professor Lumley steal the show with his knowledge of the Mangrove plant in Forida? Will the students put questions in about afternoon soaps such as HollyOaks and Home and Away that the staff never have time to watch? Prices will be £5 and £7 and will include bread, loads of different cheeses, fresh from France and an abundant amount of wine (beer and a plentiful supply of soft drinks will also be available). Anna Jephcott and Kirsty Hill --------- Ros Hamburger, Consultant in Dental Public spoke at the regular Dental Discussion Forum on Commissioning NHS Dentistry. Ros Hamburger is involved in the commissioning of NHS dentistry in the West Midlands and the speech was very interesting. It generated as you would expect lots of discussion on a very topical subject. Both Phil Tomson and Geoff Bateman put a lot of energy into organising the Dental Discussion Forum and the range of speakers has been excellent. Not only do you get to listen to some informative and often entertaining speakers but a buffet lunch and CPD point are also available. Not bad for a lunchtime talk. The next Speaker is Richard Ibbertson from the Edinburgh Postgraduate Institute and many more to follow. The MSc in general Dental Practice was also in full swing and visiting speakers included John Besford speaking on Aesthetics and Mike Fenlon from Kings covering the subject of Patient satisfaction with dentures. So as you see, this paints a picture of a typical busy day in the School of Dentistry. One must not forget all the teaching taking place on the clinics, the research being done in the laboratories and the administration that keeps a large school such as Birmingham working and providing a service to the community. ------- The 54th Annual Conference of the British Society for the Study of Prosthetic Dentistry was held at Newcastle in March 2007 under the presidency of Dr Nick Jepson of Newcastle Dental School. Birmingham was well represented and Catherine Lambe presented a paper on “Podcasts, Wikis, Videos, Prosthetics” and Dr David Attrill presented research on “Technology transfer: Industrial technologies for etching adhesive bridge retainers”. At the Annual Dinner both Catherine Lambe and Martin Ling (Senior House Officer at Birmingham Dental Hospital) were presented with a plaque to commemorate the award of the Young Graduate Prize. -------- The School of Dentistry has created several history pages which have been created and maintained by Dr Gabriel Landini and Mr Giles Perryer. This online resource is available for viewing at http://www.dentistry.bham.ac.uk/history/ Dr Landini was clearing one of the offices in the 7th floor of the dental hospital and found some pictures and other memorabilia belonging to Ronald Alban Cohen who was a great historian and collector of published material relating to dentistry. The photograph archive contains a series of photographs from the Ronald Cohen Collection at the School of Dentistry, Birmingham UK. It also has a reproduction of the speech given by Ronald Cohen to the Dental Students' Society at the celebration of their Jubilee in November 1945. The speech provides a history of Birmingham up to this date. The Archive has pictures of Newall Street Dental Hospital and Great Charles Street Dental Hospital (1906-65). Other items of interest include the menu for the first Dental Students annual dinner in 1892 which was held at the Western Hotel. The Motto of the Society was “The tooth the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth”. There are some really witty cartoons included in the collection such as a “long canine” and a “curved root”. By 1895 the annual dinner boasted a 3D stand up menu and the cover is shown in the archive of pictures. There are many other pictures of staff and buildings including Professor Edgar Manley who was the first Professor of Dental Pathology at Birmingham UK Finally the following book is available for viewing on line “The Operator for the Teeth” written by Charles Allen and published in 1685. The Operator for the Teeth is the first text-book of dentistry published in the English language. Almost nothing is known of the author. It is up to you to decide how much has changed during the three centuries following its publication. Both Dr Landini and Mr Perryer will periodically add material from the Ronald Cohen archive. February 2007 The Eureka website features the latest industry News for design engineers. One of their articles "Extreme Measurements become Routine" reports on some of the engineering breakthroughs achieved using the latest laser interferometers. The work on ultrasonic scalers and electric toothbrushes from the Dental Ultrasonics Research Group at the School of Dentistry is featured in the report. ---------- Advance notice that the next music society project is going to be "Hollywood vs Bollywood" with songs and instrumentals from both genres being performed. The date for the show is 27th March. More details to follow soon. ---------- Congratulations go to Neal Raval who has just been appointed as President of the British Dental Students Association (BDSA). Neal has held the post of Chair of the Birmingham University Dental Students Society over the last two years and has had a successful record in organising many staff - student events. Neal now brings the BDSA conference to Birmingham next year and it will be organised with Adam Joy. ---------- Your Blogger has picked up something that will be happening in the School this summer. A recent email was intercepted on Intergalactic transmissions ......the final years are organising a dentists' comedy revue for 2007 to be held in early June (dates yet to be finalised) with a number of comedy sketches performed by the 5th years themselves as well as a play starring various staff members. Tickets to go on sale soon! The only other clue was " May the force be with you" ----------- Professor Jacques Nör from the Dental School at the University of Michigan USA gave a lecture to the school on his work on Angiogenesis. This was in relation to Cancer growth and his new interest in pulp biology. His presentation was enthralling and it was interesting to see the background to his work and how it will progress in the future. Jacques is visiting the school this week and has already engaged with many of our young researchers. He was present at our Journal Club which covered one of his papers. These journal clubs are run as a Wiki where the paper is placed up on the Web and users are able to comment before, during and after the presentation. Jacques appears to be enjoying his visit to Birmingham and his host is Professor Tony Smith who is Editor of the Journal of Dental Research. ----------- Congratulations to Sue Fisher who works in the Biomaterials laboratory. She has successfully completed 40 years service with the University of Birmingham. It is particularly pleasing for Sue who has come back to work fully recovered after a serious accident last year. ----------- Wednesday 14th February - Happy Valentine's day! It was also the occasion of Staff Development Day for the School of Dentistry. Professor Philip Lumley outlined recent staff achievements and also outlined the challenges that the School faces in the future months. Professor Damien Walmsley covered the recent changes in the supervision of Postgraduate Students. The University recognises the importance of ensuring that a Training Needs Analysis is discussed between PG student and supervisor and that this is embedded in their progress portfolio. There then followed by discussions of the challenges faced by the University of Birmingham and how the Dental School would be moving forward to meet them. ----------- Tuesday 13th February - The school celebrated Donald Spence’s 60th birthday today with a surprise Birthday party after work at Michelle’s restaurant. Donald is Head of Academic Programmes and also our admissions tutor. He is a popular person both with the students to whom he provides pastoral support and with the staff around the building. He knew nothing of the party and was very taken aback by the enthusiastic rounds of Happy Birthday he received when he came into the restaurant. It is one thing the School does well and that is how to have a good party. It was a chance to unwind and have a good time. Professor Philip Lumley praised Don and the work he does for the School. Congratulations go to both Don and his wife Lynne on this happy occasion. Congratulations to Dr Helen Wright, Research Associate to the Periodontal Research Group for successfully receiving a Travel Grant from the Royal Society. ---------- The School of Dentistry Podcasts are proving very popular and there have been 3,500 downloads from iTunes since the end of October. This is certainly proving to be of interest not only to our students but many other people. A new podcast has been posted on iTunes. "Examination of the Partially Dentate patient". The School of Dentistry in Birmingham has made many podcasts available for students (and the public) to download onto their iPod/mp3 player. The School productions are listed on iTunes and subscribers automatically receive new Podcasts when they become available. Please visit the Podcast site on the School of Dentistry website for more information ------------ Friday was an eventful day in London. The 2007 Career opportunities in UK dentistry event will took place at the Hotel Russell in London’s Russell Square. This was organised jointly by the British Dental Association and UCL Eastman Dental Institute and there were well over 300 participants mainly VDP's researching careers in Dentistry. Chief Dental Officer for England Barry Cockcroft and Lester Ellman, chair of the BDA’s General Dental Practice Committee, started the day off with presentations on the future of dentistry. This was followed by a vigorous and frank discussion led by the young dentists in the Hall. Birmingham was represented by Professor Damien Walmsley who gave a presentation on a career in academia. In the evening the annual BDA/Dentsply Student Clinician awards took place at the Savoy Hotel. Although the Birmingham candidate Sandip Khaira was not successful in the final prize awards, there was very strong support for the event from the School of Dentistry. The evening is always well organised and very enjoyable. There were over 300 guests at the event and many of the great and good in dentistry were present. The School of Dentistry would like to thank Dentsply for its hospitality and offer congratulations to the successful Student Clinicians representing their schools. ----------------- Thursday 8th February and it is an exciting morning as the snow has fallen overnight and everyone is struggling to come in. The city centre is quiet and those of us in the School can taken advantage of the lull in proceedings to catch up with some office work. You always find on the clinics that many of our patients are really keen to battle through the elements just to make that dental appointment with one of our students! ----------------- The student ball at the Botanical Gardens was a great success. The theme was Arabian Nights and even included a belly dancer as entertainment after the dinner. The speeches were given by Neal Ravel BUDSS Chairman and the reply was from Dr Kirsty Hill President of the Society. Dr Alistair Sloan former member of staff and president of BUDSS now at Cardiff Dental School was the guest speaker. His speech focussed on Prof Walmsley’s inability to send text messages to correct people! It was a great social occasion and many members of staff were present. The photography booth operated by the Rimell brothers did a roaring trade and as usual the Botanical Gardens were a great venue for the Ball. All Student years were represented and there was also support from the House Officers. Congratulations go to Neal Ravel and his BUDSS committee for organising such an enjoyable evening. Pictures from the event will shortly be on the BUDSS website so watch this space. -------------------------------------- This Blog is being read by many people and I have had a request from the secretaries in the Dental School Office if they could have a mention on the site. They are Carinna Chilton, Maria Sullivan, Karen Williams, Ann Ward and Frances Deen. They are always smiling and happy and make visitors welcome to the School. They are part of our secretarial team who also include Michelle Shortall, Jill Boylan, Louise Finch, Zoe Smith, Jan Poller, Lyn Malthouse, Carole Liston, Marie Jones and Sue Goucher. All of them work hard for the School and also look after the Academics and Students. Keeping the rest of us on the straight and narrow is the hard part of their job but as always they do it with a smile. January 2007 The Elective Day went well and all the students should be congratulated on the high standard of the presentations. The Board of Examiners awarded The Dental Student Society Prize to Sandeep Khaira. The Sands Cox Society Prize for the Best Presentation was awarded to Ajit Tanday and Nicola Robinson with a Certificate of Merit to Joanna Yates. Well done to all concerned. -------------- Today (31/01/07) is the Elective Presentation Day and is taking place in the Alexander MacGregor Lecture Theatre. It is open to all staff and students. To give you a flavour of what electives have made the presentation day, the programme is shown below. All these electives were awarded a grade A on their written report and the students have the opportunity to present their work to colleagues and staff. Programme 9.25am Open Proceedings – Dr Paul Cooper (Chief Elective co-ordinator)
9.30am Mr JR Hayden --------- Catherine Lambe, Clinical Scientist in Restorative Dentsitry, has been awarded the New Graduate Prize of the British Society for the Study of Prosthetic Dentistry. This prize is awarded annually to up to five New Graduates (up to three years post-graduation) to attend the Annual Conference of the BSSPD with all expenses paid (including up to £50 for travel) and one years free membership of the Society. The School wishes to congratulate Catherine on her success and she will be attending the 2007 Annual BSSPD Conference in Newcastle.
--------- Jacques Nör , Professor in the Dept of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA has recently been appointed as a Visiting Professor in the School of Dentistry at Birmingham with the aim of developing our international relations and providing opportunities for international collaborations for our staff. He has a strong background in angiogenesis and vascularisation and has worked extensively in the cancer area, particularly oral cancer, and in recent years has applied his angiogenesis work in the endodontics field where he is doing some exciting research on pulp regeneration and tissue engineering. A number of staff and research students are presently using immortalised dental cell lines from his lab. Professor Nor will be visiting the School from the 15-22 February and will give a lecture on Monday 19 February at 12.45) in the Small lecture Theatre, floor3 on his angiogenesis research, particularly that relating to cancer. ------------ 121st Annual BUDSS Ball The Birmingham University Dental Students Society (BUDSS) commitee wishes like to remind everyone of the up and coming dental ball. The exotically themed Arabian Nights ball will be set in the palatial surroundings of the botanical gardens with a host of Eastern styled entertainments to interest everyone. From belly dancing to ice sculptures all tastes are catered for a long with the more traditional items such as casino and DJ.. Venue Botanical Gardens Dont delay the tickets are selling out fast and you dont want to miss this opportunity for an "Arabian Night" out such as you will never forget. ----------- The discussion board on the Ecourse is very busy at present as there is an examination coming up in Dental Public Health and Biomaterials. This has got many of the 2nd year students asking questions of staff on the course. The success of our discussion boards is that many of the students' questions are answered by students themselves. The Ecourse is the elearning environment of the School of Dentistry and is very successful. Unfortunately due to security reasons we are unable to offer full access but there are Ecourse examples available and these are regularly updated to provide different aspects of the elearning available. ---------- Dentistry magazine features an article titles "the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK)'s Career Pathway: your route into primary dental care". One of the recommended post graduate teaching programmes which is accredited towards stage two of the Career Pathway is the MSc in Primary Dental Care from the University of Birmingham. The Course leader is Professor Trevor Burke and he can be contacted via email f.j.t.burke@bham.ac.uk or Telephone 0121 237 2768 . the School is also pleased to see that Trevor is a nomination in the Dental Practice magazine for the Top 50 most influential people in UK Dentistry. ------------ In today's Daily Telegraph (12th January 07), journalist Jeff Randall comments on "How finding a dentist came to be such a pain in the gum" and discusses the lack of dentists in the United Kingdom. The article features comments from "Two of our top-rated centres for dentistry teaching — the universities of Sheffield and Birmingham" In the article, it is stated that despite the present lack of dentists, these two dental schools are extremely popular and have received 2,000 applicants for 150 places. ------------- Thursday and Friday are busy days with all clinical years of students in the building. The final years are back and are already realising that they are only a few months away from the final examination papers (May) and the clinical examinations (June). Those vital presentation cases need to be ready. The other years are back with their patients and it is the third years who are suddenly finding that life is very busy. Speciality teaching has started and they suddenly find themselves in all the different teaching units through out the building. One of the nice things about this week is that the weekend comes around quickly! -------------- Most staff were in on the Wednesday as 2nd January is a University Holiday. It was busy as people were preparing themselves for the term which starts today 4th January. Happy New Year and hope you have a great 2007 !
"Interim report from Newark airport where I've got a 7 hr stop-over ! Snow on the ground and zero degrees C, so looking forward to the warmer climate of New Orleans. All time record today, the US Immigration Service official smiled on arrival, there was no line and I felt welcome on arrival in the US - does this spell the end of Bush's reign ?!!!"
Tickets will be available soon from
Frances Goble, Lawrence Nolan and Lela Nolan (BDS 4)
You may be able to pay on the door but interest in this event is high so dont delay and be disappointed, get your tickets soon.
The annual cheese and wine quiz night. It will be held on Friday 23rd March after clinics at 5 pm in the canteen.
Prof Damien Walmsley will as usual be the quizmaster and I am sure he will impress the crowd once again. Would be great if we can get a fantastic staff turnout again for this event as we did for the ball.
There will be seven bottles of wine per table (each table with 10-12 people). Staff are very welcome to bring guests and we will afterwards be moving on to Yates as happened last year, and for those still standing then a night out on Broad Street.
Would be great to see you there – get your teams ready!!!
First off congratulations go to Minal Patel and Lee Graham who successfully defended their PhD theses subject to the usual minor revisions. The title of Minal’s PhD was “Stem / progenitor cells and the post-natal dental pulp”. Her supervisors were Prof Tony Smith and Dr Paul Cooper. Lee Graham’s PhD title was “Molecular characterization of dentine matrix components and their biological effects” and his supervisors were Dr Paul Cooper and Prof Tony Smith. Dr Alistair Sloan was supervisor to both of them before his departure to Cardiff University.
Coral Reef Survey Methodology: A Comparison of Survey Methods with a Coral Reef Conservation Project in Fiji
9.45am Miss M Malik
The Front Door Project
10.00am Mr V Vithlani
An Insight into Ayurveda in Dentistry and its potential application to modern Dentistry
10.15am Miss A Tanday
In Vitro Evaluation of the Reliability and Accuracy of the Raypex 5 Electronic Apex Locator
10.30am Miss J Yates
Comparing Hospital Ophthalmology departments in Uganda to England
10.45am COFFEE (Judges, Guests & Chairpersons – Osborne Room)
11.05am Miss H Halling
Forensic Dentistry- naming the dead – a post identification case
11.20am Miss R Sepehrara
The effect of adrenaline found naturally and within local anaesthetic solutions on bacteria associated with endodontic pathology
11.35am Miss NA Robinson
A study on how Himalayan Health Exchange provides dental services to the Ladkakh-Chang Tang region of north India
11.50am Miss SSK Khaira
Surface manipulation of Co-Cr dental alloys: A comparison between conventional sandblasting and electron beam manipulation
12.05pm Mr A Ahmed
Motorcycling safety and Riding Risk Assessment
12.20pm Miss V Mackenzie
Dental Treatment Needs of Equine Patients
12.35pm Close of Proceedings – Dr Paul Cooper
Date Saturday 3rd February
Tickets £40 BUDSS, £45 non-BUDSS
Contact Neal Raval (NCR300@bham.ac.uk) for more details at the School of Dentistry
The School of Dentistry
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