Director’s Welcome

Professor Richard Ibbetson,
Director of the Edinburgh Postgraduate Dental Institute,
University of Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Postgraduate Dental Institute looks forward to welcoming you. The modern facilities and the presence of staff who are leaders in their fields mean that you will be able to make the most of your postgraduate studies. The Institute places emphasis on individual teaching and learning. We have advantages over bigger postgraduate institutes in that we can develop a learning programme that is personal to you. Staff will be happy to discuss your own particular needs and develop an individual plan for you, which will mean that your time with us is spent to your best advantage.

The teaching of dentistry in Edinburgh can be traced back to the early 1700’s whilst the new Postgraduate Institute is part of the Faculty of Medicine which has a world-wide reputation for the excellence of its research and teaching.

At the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, the Faculty of Medicine was graded 5* - the maximum that can be achieved. There are ample opportunities for research, either as part of your Masters’ degree or to gain a formal research qualification, either a DDS or Ph.D.

The Lauriston Building houses the Postgraduate Dental Institute, the clinical services run by NHS Lothian Primary and Community Division and the educational activities of NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in the South-East of Scotland. NES carries responsibility for Vocational Training of new graduates, General Professional Training and the funded Section 63 educational activities of dental practitioners and Dental Care Professionals. This provides an enormous concentration of dentistry on one site and offers teaching and research opportunities in Primary Dental Care and Specialist Practice that do not exist anywhere else within the United Kingdom. The Postgraduate Institute works closely with its partners to ensure that our educational programmes are focussed on the major issues in oral health.

Edinburgh is the capital city of the devolved Scotland and is the home of the Scottish Parliament. It has the history, culture and excitement that you would expect. It is also small enough to be easy to get around and to have a friendly and welcoming atmosphere often lacking in bigger cities.

The Postgraduate Dental Institute is located close to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and we work closely with the Dental Faculty. Many of our degrees will help you prepare for the Membership examinations of the Faculty. These qualifications are established as a mark of the satisfactory completion of specialist training.

There are opportunities for all types of postgraduate study: from formal research degrees, Masters degrees to help you train to specialise in a particular discipline to continuing education for dentists and other members of the dental team. I hope that you will enjoy reading this guide to studying dentistry here and that we may have the opportunity of welcoming you to the Edinburgh Postgraduate Dental Institute – the friendly home of postgraduate dentistry.

Best wishes for your future careers.