Course Information
Date: 19/06/2026
Start Time: 10:00
Completion Time: 6 Hours
Venue: Craigavon Civic & Conference Centre, 66 Lakeview Road, Craigavon BT64 1AL
Speakers: Jason Atkinson, Adrian Farquharson, Dr Ruth Gray
Course Description
Early Years Dental Training For Educational Supervisors
Nuts and Bolts of Dental Foundation Training
Team Working
Course Aims
- EYDT for Educational Supervisors: Supervise safely using EPAs and the L1-L4 scale, Make defensible entrustment decisions, Build the evidence base through SLEs, Write reports that support fair RCP outcomes.
- Nuts & Bolts of DFT: Have an Overview of the DFT Schemes for 2026-27, Identify Changes to DFT Schemes for 2026-27.
- Team Working: To develop dental educational supervisors’ understanding and practical application of effective team working within dental and wider healthcare systems, drawing on human factors practice and contemporary evidence and aligned to the GDC standards for safe, patient-centred practice.
Course Objectives
- At the end of this session the delegates should be able to:
- Describe the key principles and characteristics of effective team working in healthcare and dentistry, using Human Factors Practice.
- Explain the relationship between teamwork, communication, and patient safety and outcomes.
- Analyse common barriers to effective team working within dental practice and training environments.
- Apply structured team-working tools (e.g. communication frameworks, role clarity, briefing/debriefing approaches) to educational supervision.
- Evaluate their own role as educational supervisors in modelling and developing effective team behaviours within trainees and teams.
Course Learning Content
Foundations of Team Working
- Definition and characteristics of effective healthcare teams (shared goals, interdependence, defined roles)
- Evidence linking teamwork to improved performance and patient outcomes in healthcare
- Importance of communication, leadership, and coordination in team effectiveness
- Human Factors Simulation
- Team Working in Dentistry
- Evidence of improved access, efficiency, and outcomes when dental teams work effectively
- Barriers in dental settings (role ambiguity, communication gaps, underutilisation of skill mix)
- Communication, Safety and Human Factors
- Link between communication failures and patient safety incidents
- Team communication tools (e.g. structured handover, briefing, speaking up behaviours)
- Non-technical skills: situational awareness, decision making, leadership
- Interactive Applied Learning
The session should lean heavily on experiential learning, supported by strong evidence:
Structured debrief:
o focus on behaviours, not individuals
o reflection on communication, leadership, and decision-making
Case-based group work: analysing a failing dental team scenario
GDC Development Outcomes
- A, B, C & D
Resources
Dietary Requirements
Please advise the Dental Continuing Education Team dentalcourses.nimdta@hscni.net if you have any dietary requirements.
