Bursary Award’s Deadline Edges Closer – Association of Dental Groups (ADG)

  Posted by: Dental Design      11th May 2018

Albert Einstein once said that ‘Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death’. It is this idea of continuing development and broadening of skills that drives excellence in dentistry, and sets apart the high-performers from the rest of the bunch.

Extra qualifications, prizes and awards are an important part of academic and intellectual progression. Receiving a prestigious accolade such as one of the Association of Dental Group’s (ADG) annual Bursary Awards, for instance, says a lot about a person both professionally and personally, and their dedication to improving the standard of patient care. It’s not even about winning – it’s the commitment to the process of one’s personal progression and advancement of the profession that really matters.

The ADG Bursary Awards 2018 offer undergraduate and postgraduate students the opportunity to look at the bigger picture of dentistry outside of the academic curriculum, as well as earn national recognition for their ideas and ingenuity. The final deadline for submissions is the 30^thJune 2018, so there’s still plenty of time to apply for one of the three categories if you or somebody you know fancies the challenge of becoming one of this year’s Bursary Awards winners.

The 2018 competition will be extra special, as the ADG has teamed up with The Dentist and Dental Update to present what’s set to be the most exciting year yet in the Award’s history. As well as a chance to win one of two bursaries worth up to £1,000 in each category, undergraduate winners will receive exclusive editorial space in The Dentist and a complimentary pass to the 2018 BDIA Dental Update Study Day taking place in October. Together, the prizes offer a unique combination of intellectual opportunity and acknowledgement for professional innovation.

In the postgraduate category where just one student will have the privilege of being crowned the 2018 winner, the successful candidate will receive a cash prize of £1,500 together with a seat on Dental Update’s reading panel for 12 months alongside key members of the dental profession. The winner will also get to publish an article in Dental Update, and attend the BDIA Dental Update Study Day for free.

All undergraduate dental hygienists, therapists, clinical dental technicians and dentists are eligible for the Awards, while the postgraduate bursary scheme is open to any postgraduate dental student or dentist undertaking postgraduate training, including foundation and vocational training. The applications themselves can take time and require an innovative, forward-thinking approach, so for those thinking of applying there’s no time like the present to get started. Just be sure to submit the full application by 30^thJune at the latest to the ADG along with a professional reference. An expert panel will judge all submissions anonymously, with the winners being notified on 1^stSeptember 2018. The actual Awards themselves will be presented in collaboration with The Dentist and Dental Update at a select ceremony with some of the profession’s most influential figures at the BDIA Dental Update Study Day on 4^thOctober in London.

In the ‘Innovation in Dental Care’ category for undergraduates, a new addition to this year’s Awards in place of the ‘Skills Mix’ competition, applicants should describe how innovative techniques and ways of working can improve how dental care is provided for patients. As part of this, consideration should be given to how to engage patients with preventive messages, the use of current and future technologies, how the whole dental team could deliver care using skills mix, and solutions to overcome potential barriers.

The other competition open to undergraduates is the ‘Professionalism’ category, which has a two-part application. The first requirement is to describe what the term ‘dental professional’ means in terms of ethics and professionalism with regard to patients, self and clinical team and peers. This must be accompanied by a specific example of a time and situation in which professionalism has been demonstrated. 

The format of the postgraduate Award is slightly different in that applicants are required to come up with a project focusing on either improving access for disadvantaged people, or building awareness of oral cancers and the need for early diagnosis. Each application should include a brief description of the project as well as a business plan on how it will be implemented, a timetable, projected costs and how the outcome will be measured.

“We are looking forward to the Bursary Awards 2018,” says Mr David Worskett, Chair of the ADG, “and eagerly await the applications from this year’s candidates.”

For more information about how to apply, contact the ADG today.

For more information about the ADG visit www.dentalgroups.co.uk

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