An Aberdeen Dental School student is all smiles after finishing runner-up in a prestigious national dental skills completion.
Alice Hamilton finished second out of 300 who entered the Dental Skills Competition run by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd).
In the final, she competed against 15 other students who won their respective regional heats around the UK.
The competition consisted of several tasks covering many different aspects of dentistry, such as minor surgical procedures, communication, root canal treatment, tooth morphology and more. There was also the added challenge of contestants being timed whilst they carried out procedures.
Alice, 25, who is in her final year, said it was a ‘challenging but very enjoyable’ experience.
“I feel privileged to have even taken part in the RCSEd dental skills competition, let alone come second!” she said. “It’s hard to know where your dental skills are compared to dental students in the rest of the UK, so it is a lovely reassurance to be placed highly and see hard work recognised on a national level.”
Alice also paid tribute to the University’s Dental School for preparing her for the challenge.
She said: “I feel Aberdeen Dental School contributed massively to my success in the competition. It’s a demonstration of the hard work of the staff and the great teaching that they do to train all the dental students at Aberdeen to a high standard. It’s great that this high standard can be recognised through the competition.
“The competition will help my career in many ways, it was a great opportunity for me to see round the RCSEd, meet the lovely people that run the college and see what great opportunities it has to offer in regards to my future. It has given me confidence in my own abilities which will help me in the next stage of my career. It was also great to meet other dental students from all over the country.”
Head of the Aberdeen Dental School, Professor Richard Ibbetson paid tribute to Alice’s achievement.
“Everyone in the dental school family is incredibly proud of Alice and her success. We know how talented all our students are but it is good to know that when they go toe-to-toe with those from other dental schools that we are officially among the best-of-the-best.
“This award, I’m sure, will give her even more confidence in her abilities as she begins a promising career in dentistry.”