Dental Public Health

Core modules:

Introduction to Public Health

This module will provide a foundation to Masters courses in Public Health and Dental Public Health providing an introduction to public health principles and practice. The module contrasts individualised and population approaches to improving health, discusses the relative influences of environmental and lifestyle determinants of disease. Individual sessions will provide highlights of other modules on the course illustrating how research methods, needs assessment, planning, evaluation, health protection, health promotion knowledge of organisations etc remain as important as they were in addressing 19th century poor housing and sanitation. The module will also consider international aspects of public health as well as the threats and opportunities posed by globalisation.

15 credits

Dental Public Health - Foundations, Theory, Application and Critique

Dental Public Health involves the application of generic public health principles to the field of oral health. This unit will consider dental public health in three broad areas: oral epidemiology; oral health promotion; and public health      aspects of dental services. Specific topics to be considered include: the epidemiology of, and trends in, oral diseases and conditions; methods of epidemiological surveillance; the principles of public health approaches to prevention and their practical application; the theory of oral health promotion, its practical application, effectiveness and evaluation; public health aspects of dental services including quality of and access to care, models of care including methods of remuneration and other health economic considerations; the principles of and rationale for screening and quality criteria;  the concepts of need and demand and the theory and practical application of oral health needs assessment; and international dental public health considerations and critique.

30 credits

Health Promotion

The module seeks to elaborate on the theoretical background of health promotion with the aim of developing a critical awareness of the key concepts, debates and methods. The module also aims to evaluate a range of health promotion strategies in different fields. Teaching will be presented through a series of lectures and workshops that will also include group discussion, case studies and examples, to develop the lecture themes, and problem-solving skills.

15 credits

Research Methods in Clinical Dentistry

Research methods are a key part of clinical dentistry. This unit will aim to introduce students to patient-centred research methods and will include evidence-based dentistry, critical appraisal, research governance and ethics, quantitative and qualitative research methods, statistical appraisal of research reports.

15 credits

The Sociology of Health and Illness

The sociology of health and illness module involves studying how society is structured by looking at the patterns of relationships that have an existence over and above individuals. In this respect it looks at how health is distributed as a consequence of how people are related to each other in a number of ways. This involves looking at how, for example social class, and gender relations result in varying patterns and experiences of health. The module goes well beyond this however. In this module you will also undertake a journey to study social organisation. We will be exploring how our very ideas about health can be controlled and manipulated, and how these ideas are historically located. Beyond this sociology is also the study of what things mean to people. A large part of the sociology of health involves understanding how people relate to each other both rationally and emotionally through what things mean for them. We will explore how the meaning of health can shape encounters with various health professionals including doctors, health promoters, dentists and various different therapists. The module does not require any prior knowledge of sociology and is structured for students who are not from a social science background.  However, we do welcome students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds.

15 credits

Introduction to Statistics and Critical Appraisal

The unit introduces students to basic concepts and techniques such as hypothesis testing and confidence interval estimation in statistics. Students will learn some simple statistical methods and the principles behind some advanced methods such as regression. It will equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and critically appraise statistics in research literature.The course is not aimed at 'doers' of statistics, that is, students who are going to design their own studies to collect and analyse their own data. It will not teach you how to analyse, present and report your own data.

15 credits

Health and Social Justice

A knowledge of ethical aspects of international health policy forms a basic tenet of a sound understanding of social science and health. This module aims to cover the common ethical concepts/theoretical frameworks of international health policy including social justice in relation to communities and the individual;affordable access; and accounting for inequalities. Students will be provided with the opportunity to engage in developing critical and reflective skills as they relate to major international public health issues.

15 credits

Dissertation

The aim of this module is to enable students to develop an understanding of both the process and skills required to undertake a supervised project. They will be required to identify relevant information on a topic and critically review the research of others. A range of approaches should be used to assess the impact this information will have on either the planning of services or improving health. The dissertation should demonstrate at least 2 of the four competencies which students must demonstrate in professional examinations. These are: Critically appraising and interpreting published literature, using epidemiological approaches to describe health status, obtaining and using relevant information in health service planning and, fourth, assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of health services.

60 credits