RCSI’s Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme gets ready to welcome its first students

From September, the first student cohort of the new RCSI School of Dentistry will make history as the first dental students in Ireland to be educated on a community-based programme. A major life milestone for the students, their first day also marks a seminal moment for the university and for dental education in Ireland. 

Ours is the first new school of dentistry in Ireland since 1913 but, while our venture into dental education is exciting, it is not uncharted territory. Our predecessors operated an undergraduate dental school from 1878 to 1977, awarding the Licentiate in Dental Surgery (LDSRCSI) to approximately 1,600 dentists. Today, the Faculty of Dentistry, which is based at RCSI, has more than 5,000 Fellows, Members, Diplomates and Affiliates globally. 

This heritage and RCSI’s track-record of excellence in health sciences education provide strong foundations. Yet the task of establishing a new school and getting ready for our new students has been quite monumental.

Addressing a national challenge

Our challenge has been made all the easier because of the support of the RCSI leadership, colleagues across the university and our partners in dental education and higher education, each united in wanting to work together to address Ireland’s chronic shortage of dentists.

The country has just 44 dentists per 100,000 people, a figure significantly lower than many European counterparts.

This scarcity impacts access to dental care, particularly in underserved communities. Recognising this, through the Higher Education Authority, the Department of Higher Education is supporting RCSI to provide 20 new dentistry places annually for Irish students starting in 2025. We are also grateful to the Department of Health, the HSE, the Dental Council and the wider dental sector for their support.

Innovative curriculum development

Our new Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) is a five-year degree programme in line with the European Union directives on dentistry training.

We are proud to be collaborating with the award-winning Peninsula Dental School at the University of Plymouth to implement a modern, community-based curriculum. This approach emphasises early patient contact and community engagement, reflecting the reality that a majority of dentists in Ireland practise
in primary care settings. 

Our five-year programme integrates clinical skills training with the acquisition of knowledge, skills and professional attributes. Dental students at RCSI will start clinical skills training in week two of their first year, facilitating the development of clinical and communication skills early in their education. 

World-leading facilities

To support this innovative curriculum, RCSI has made significant investment in developing cutting-edge facilities. Construction is now complete on a €12 million Dental Education Centre in Sandyford, Dublin, which is ready for the students who will begin this September. The Centre, which is located very close to the Stillorgan Luas stop, features a simulation lab and a dental clinic with 12 dental chairs. 

Students will spend most of their first two years at this Centre, as well as taking the Luas to St Stephen’s Green to meet their peers from RCSI’s other health sciences programmes. Some of their anatomy education will take place side-by-side with RCSI’s medical students, and they’ll participate in the interprofessional education that is so central to RCSI’s education philosophy.  

In their third year, they will move to RCSI’s second Dental Education Centre at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown. Scheduled to open in 2027, this 4,000m² facility will house 40 dental chairs, intra-oral x-ray suites and other essential clinical infrastructure. 

To ensure our students benefit from a state-of-the-art learning environment, we are working with Henry Schein Ireland to equip the Sandyford facility. This includes dental chairs and supporting infrastructure and a simulation unit with 55 phantom heads, ensuring students train with the latest technology.

A growing Faculty team and opportunities for dental educators

I am very proud to have been joined on the School of Dentistry team by a group of really outstanding academics and researchers. Professor Peter Cowan, an Adjunct Professor of Oral Surgery at NYU, specialist oral surgeon, a former Dean and CEO of the Faculty of Dentistry RCSI, with more than 40 years’ experience in clinical practice, has joined us as Professor of Oral Surgery and Dental Anatomy. 

Professor Osama Omer, former head of Restorative Dentistry at Trinity College Dublin, renowned for his expertise in rehabilitating head and neck cancer patients, is our Head of Restorative Dentistry and Clinical Director. Dr Isabel Olegário, an award-winning teacher, researcher and scientist, is Senior Lecturer in Paediatric Dentistry in Primary Care Dentistry, and Dr Niamh Coffey, who also has an extensive research profile, is Senior Lecturer in Restorative and Primary Care Dentistry and will also head our Clinical Skills Programme.

“Construction is now complete on a €12 million Dental Education Centre in Sandyford, Dublin, which is ready for the students that will begin this September”

Dr Genecy Calado de Melo, who holds a clinical post as a Senior Dental Surgeon, is Lecturer in Operative and Primary Care Dentistry and Dr Cathy Richards, a basic scientist and active researcher in difficult-to treat cancers, has been appointed Lecturer in Dentistry. 

Dr Richards moved from the Molecular Medicine department, RCSI, where she was a Senior Post doctoral Researcher in Oncology. She is a basic scientist and active researcher in difficult-to-treat cancers.

Our team will be joined by a number of new academic colleagues during the summer, and we are also starting to recruit clinical lecturers or teaching practitioners – working dentists who would like to engage in teaching, perhaps a day or two a week. This is a wonderful way for dentists to use their expertise in a new way, to engage with the next generation of dentists, and to work with a passionate team of academics and clinical educators.  

If you are interested, we would love to hear from you. 

Promoting better oral health

Our new team has been warmly welcomed by colleagues across RCSI. The job of building a new School from the ground up has been a university-wide enterprise and the experience has shown the very best of RCSI’s wonderful community of academics, researchers, clinicians and professional staff. 

The university is mission-driven to improve human health and the entire RCSI community shares a commitment to the third UN Sustainable Development Goal, good health and wellbeing. Indeed, we have recently ranked number one in the world, out of more than 1,700 universities, for our impact on good health and wellbeing in the 2025 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. This is the third time in five years we ranked number one, reflecting our university’s dedication to human health. The School’s new team of experts in oral surgery, paediatrics, restorative dentistry, and public health are committed to advancing oral health equity. We’ve written oral health promotion articles published by The Conversation and Dr Niamh Coffey has helped develop resources to improve dental care for individuals with cystic fibrosis, exemplifying their dedication to inclusive healthcare. We’re determined to be positive advocates for better oral health, so we’ll continue this work as the School opens and our team expands. 

The final 100 metres

As the countdown begins to welcome our first group of students this September, a busy summer of preparation lies ahead. Final snagging works are underway at the new Sandyford Dental Education Centre, where clinics, simulation labs, and learning environments are being meticulously checked and commissioned. Faculty and technical teams are working closely with suppliers to install and calibrate state-of-the-art equipment, ensuring everything is in place for a seamless start. 

From fine-tuning teaching timetables to conducting trial runs of simulation models, this final phase reflects the shared excitement and responsibility of launching a new era in Irish dental education.

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Meet Professor Albert Leung

Professor Albert Leung is Professor of Dentistry and foundation Head of the new School of Dentistry at RCSI. 

After qualifying in dentistry in 1985, Professor Leung worked in dental practice for a number of years before embarking on postgraduate education in dentistry. He took up a position as Lecturer at King’s College London, where he progressed to Deputy Director, spending 15 years teaching primary care dentistry and in pedagogic research.

In 2013, he took up a role at the UCL, Eastman Dental Institute, where he was Principal Clinical Teaching Fellow, Deputy Programme Director, then Deputy Head of Department, Head of Department, Head of Continuing Professional Education and Programme Director of Restorative Dental Practice. 

Professor Leung was awarded his Chair in 2017, when he became Professor of Dental Education.
He was a recipient of the 2017 Association of Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) Excellence in Dental Education Mature Career Educator award. His main areas of research are in dental education and restorative dentistry. 

Throughout his academic career, Professor Leung has been involved with RCSI’s Faculty of Dentistry initially through gaining RCSI postgraduate qualifications by examination in the mid 1990s. He later became Vice-Dean, serving as Dean from 2020 to 2023.

In early 2020, he was asked by RCSI Vice Chancellor Professor Cathal Kelly to work on the establishment of a new School of Dentistry and some four years later, he retired from his UCL role and took up his current role as Head of School at RCSI.

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Connecting the classroom with the community 

A cornerstone of RCSI’s BDS programme is the Community and Interprofessional Engagement Module, designed to cultivate healthcare professionals who combine clinical expertise with empathy, social awareness, and a deep commitment to community well-being. 

In their first year, students work in small groups to interview representatives from local community organisations, building awareness of the social care services supporting vulnerable populations and the health challenges they face.

Their second year will give students the chance to collaborate with external organisations to design and deliver real-world projects focused on promoting healthy behaviours, ranging from oral hygiene education to lifestyle interventions targeting specific demographics.

Deepening their understanding of integrated care by engaging with other health disciplines is the focus of the third year, reflecting RCSI’s commitment to fostering cross-sectoral teamwork.

In fourth year, students will complete a quality improvement project, synthesising their learning to enhance standards in dental practice. This module encourages students to look outward, to listen, learn, and contribute meaningfully, fostering a mindset that is shaping the future of dental education at RCSI.

RCSI is grateful to key community partners already contributing to the programme: HSE, Transit HUB Citywest (supporting asylum seekers and refugees), and RCSI’s outreach schools. Future collaborations are also in development with organisations such as QUIT Smoking Services (HSE), RCSI’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) partners, and other social support agencies.

These partnerships provide students with tangible platforms to understand and address health inequalities. From designing smoking cessation campaigns to working with schools on oral health promotion, this work allows students to connect their academic knowledge to community needs.

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