Outreach teaching - The Leeds experience: Reflections after one year

Abstract

Clinical experience in Outreach sites has taken place in many dental schools for a number of years. The wider recognition of Outreach as a useful learning environment has prompted many schools to share their experiences. The purpose of this paper is to share the findings of Leeds Dental Institute's experiences after the first year of Outreach learning in a purpose-built Outreach clinic. The learning outcomes for this activity were carefully tailored to the experiences available within this community setting and built as an integrated part of the BChD dental curriculum. The successful introduction of a model of independent but well supported and managed clinical teaching units as part of Leeds Dental Institute has allowed our dental students to access both modern learning and teaching in a community based locality, while retaining access to the conventional centre of teaching and clinical excellence in a dental school and hospital. © 2008 Nature Publishing Group.