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University College Cork

Dental Public Health

The aim of this postgraduate course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead and support the development of dental public health nationally and internationally.

Dental public health is the science of preventing oral diseases, promoting oral health and improving the quality of life through organised efforts. It concerns not only actions directed at populations as a whole, but also at the groups and individuals that make up populations.

Highly-trained public health specialists are required in Ireland and abroad to tackle issues such as health inequalities; their causes and solutions; communicable diseases; oral health; obesity; smoking and international health development.

The MSc Dental Public Health is an innovative course designed to offer multi-disciplinary academic and experiential development.

The course emphasises:
student-directed learning
multi-disciplinary teaching and learning
problem solving
skills training
flexibility

This course will appeal to dental professionals:
-who wish to develop the knowledge, skills and commitment to develop services which are equitable and fair
-who wish to develop a greater understanding of the competing demands, resource implications and expectations in providing a public dental service in the twenty-first century.

Why Choose This Course

Dental public health is recognised as an important component of the modern dentist's skill set. As populations live longer, the focus must be on adding 'life to years rather than years to life'. Oral healthcare must be planned and delivered to optimise scarce resources. This successful outcome is fostered throughout the MDPH, exposing the student to research methods, fostering evidence-based practice, healthcare evaluation and encouraging leadership, through structured modules.

Entry requirements

Prospective students must satisfy the following:
-students accepted on the course should hold a BDS (Hons) Degree of the NUI or equivalent degree. Health care professionals, for example medical doctors, nurses or auxiliary dental workers holding relevant degrees will also be considered
-include with application form a sample of their own written work
-satisfy an interview board

All applicants should indicate on their application form their reasons for wishing to enter this programme and will be required to discuss these at interview.

Note: In exceptional circumstances applicants with a primary degree in another discipline may be recommended for entry to the programme following a review of their individual qualifications and experience by the course committee. Admission of such applicants may be subject to the approval of the College of Medicine and Health Executive Committee.

If you are applying with Qualifications obtained outside Ireland and you wish to verify if you meet the minimum academic and English language requirements for this programme please click here to view the grades comparison table by country and for details of recognised English language tests.

Non-EU Candidates

Non-EU candidates are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to Irish university primary degree level. In addition, where such candidates are non-native speakers of the English language they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language. To verify if you meet the minimum academic requirements for this programme please visit our qualification comparison pages.

For more detailed entry requirement information please refer to the International website.

Duration

1 year full-time.
Lectures are scheduled for Thursday evenings and all day Friday. Extensive reading is required. Reading lists are provided with each module.

Careers or further progression

At the end of this course you will be able to:
-analyse critically and debate the theories and issues related to dental public health and effectively communicate your perspective to peer groups
-construct arguments around the social, political and economic factors determining the health of populations
-demonstrate competence in the key disciplines and theories underpinning public health including health informatics; epidemiology, including needs and demands assessment; communicable diseases, including healthcare associated infections; biostatistics; social and behavioural sciences and social policy
-design and discuss the provision, economic evaluation, management and leadership of health services
-analyse and synthesise evidence-based research and its application to the practice of dental public health
-develop and evaluate appropriate oral health protection and promotion initiatives at the population level
-develop and apply research methodology by conducting a specified programme of research under appropriate supervision.

Further enquiries

Dr. Mairead Harding
Email:m.harding@ucc.ie
Tel: + 353 (0) 21 490 1103

Liz Flynn
Email:l.flynn@ucc.ie

Subjects taught

The following modules are taken as part of the course:
Principles and Practice of Public Health
Applied Research for Public Health
Public Health Informatics
Leadership in Public Health
Decision Analysis and Evaluation Methods in Health Care and Health Care Financing
Critical Social Science Perspectives on Public Health
Dental Public Health
Preventive Dentistry
Minor Thesis

Comment

Lectures are scheduled for Thursday evenings and all day Friday. Extensive reading is required. Reading lists are provided with each module. The course is a taught master's, modular in format with assessment through written examination, project work, essay and completion of a minor dissertation. The course draws on the experience across the university with teaching being provided from the College of Medicine and Health, Centre for Policy Studies and Applied Social Studies. International speakers are also invited to provide seminars on the course, enhancing the experience of the student and exposing you to different approaches.

Assessment method

The course is a taught master's, modular in format with assessment through written examination, project work, essay and completion of a minor dissertation.

Application date

Closing dates

Closing Dates for Application

Applications for 2018 start dates will open on November 1st 2017.

EU Applicants: UCC operates a rounds closing date system for the majority of postgraduate taught programmes (detailed below).

Some programmes have a specific closing date. Applicants are advised to consult with the postgraduate prospectus for programmes with a specific closing date.

The UCC rounds EU application system closing dates for Postgraduate Taught courses are detailed below. However, we would advise applicants to apply as soon as possible.

Deadline for receipt of Applications: Offers will be made:
For all completed applications received by January 15th 2018 Offers will be made by January 29th 2018

For all completed applications received by March 1st 2018 Offers will be made by March 15th 2018

For all completed applications received by May 1st 2018
Offers will be made by May 15th 2018

For all completed applications received by July 2nd 2018
Offers will be made by July 16th 2018

Late applications may be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for any courses that have remaining capacity for places.

While there is no official closing date for Research courses applicants are advised to submit their application at least two months ahead of their proposed start date. There are four official Research start dates September/October, January, April and July.

Non-EU Applicants:

Please visit the following page for further information for Non EU applicants http://www.ucc.ie/en/international/studyatucc/postgraduateprogrammes/tau...