- C405, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 586808
- cathy.coelho@plymouth.ac.uk

Profiles
Dr Cathy Coelho
Associate Professor (Education)
Peninsula Dental School (Faculty of Health)
- Enquiry based learning
- Dentistry
- Clinical education
- Equality and diversity
- Simulations
- Study skills
- Academic remediation
- Cohort studies
- Mixed-methods
- Observational methods
- Qualitative research
Email publicrelations@plymouth.ac.uk to enquire.
Biography
Biography
- in 2015 when I became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- in 2016 when I was awarded an Early Career Educator Excellence in Teaching Award from the Association of Dental Education in Europe.
- in 2017 when I was awarded a Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence award by Advance HE.
- in 2020 when I was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by Advance HE.
- I am a founding and active member of the Peninsula Dental School’s Equality SAT
- I set up the Peninsula Dental School's Student Equality Champions Group
- I chair the Faculty of Health’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
- I sit on the University of Plymouth’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
- I sit on the University of Plymouth's Athena SWAN Committee and am the Communications Lead for the Athena SWAN action plan
- Nationally I sit on the Diversity in Dentistry Action Group, part of The College of General Dentistry
Qualifications
- BDS 1987
Professional membership
General Dental Council
Roles on external bodies
General Dental Council’s External Examiner for ORE (Overseas Registration Examination)
Diversity in Dentistry Action Group. Office of the Chief Dental Officer
Steering group member of the UK and Eire Clinical Skills (Simulation) Collaboration
Committee member of Dental School’s Counsel Assessment Alliance
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
I believe teaching should be engaging, active and thought provoking to be effective. I have studied adult learning theories in the literature and use evidence-based strategies to underpin my teaching style.
I deliver a wide range of teaching within Peninsula Dental School, mainly based on simulation in clinical dentistry to both the Dentistry programme and the Dental Therapy and Hygiene programme.
I am especially proud of the impact I have had on students who are struggling to be successful, by designing and implementing an academic remediation process that has both short-term and long-term positive impacts on student outcomes.
Staff serving as external examiners
General Dental Council's External Examiner for ORE (Overseas Registration Examination)
Research
Research
Research interests
My research is mainly educationally based around clinical dental education and equality.
The dissertation for my Masters in Clinical Education used qualitative methodology to evaluate patient and student perceptions around patients giving feedback to dental students on their communication skills.
Grants & contracts
2022: Grant from Health Education England South West Simulation Network to fund a project entitled "Dental Immersive Reality for healthcare teams: Development of a Mixed Reality training package to help healthcare teams identify common dental issues, to optimise patient care and appropriate referral pathways".
Publications
Publications
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
1. Short oral presentation and poster: C. Coelho; “A critical appraisal of the literature oncommunication skills training in dentistry” at 2015 international Associationfor Dental Education in Europe conference in Hungary.
2. Short oral presentation and poster: S. Hanks, C .Coelho, P. Schoenborn and R. Coster;“Dental Foundation Trainers’ (DFT) perception of the “Preparedness for Practice” of new dental graduates” at 2015 international Association for Dental Education in Europe conference in Hungary
3. Short oral presentation and poster: C .Coelho; “A qualitative study to explore the issues for patients when giving feedback on the communication skills of dental students”at 2015 British Society of Dental Research national conference in Cardiff, UK.
4. Short oral presentation and poster: C. Coelho; “Shifting academically failing or under-performing dental students to succeeding ones” at 2016 international Association for Dental Education in Europe conference in Barcelona.
5. Short oral presentation and poster; C. Coelho, S.Hanks; “Does science knowledge learnt in problem or enquiry-based learning sessions transfer to other learning spaces?” at 2016 international Association for Dental Education in Europe conference in Barcelona.
6.Short oral presentation and poster : S. Hanks, C. Coelho;“Evaluating the DayBook: Long Distance View of the Educational Impact of a Teaching and Learning Resource” at 2016 international Association for Dental Education in Europe conference in Barcelona.
7. Short oral presentation and e-poster: C. Coelho, P. Trimble and P. Ward: "Evaluation of inter-professional learning with dental and law students using problem-based learning methodology" at 2018 international Association for Dental Education in Europe conference in Oslo.
8. Poster: Collingwood, J and Coelho, C; “A 3D printed preclinical simulation training model to teach caries removal in Dentistry” at Health Education England 2019 Simulation, Innovation & Patient Safety Conference - Achieving Excellence in Healthcare.
9. Poster: Kelly, A., Coelho, C. and Hanks, S. “Connecting the Strands - Feedback Enhances Undergraduate Dental Education across Healthcare Boundaries” at Health Education England 2021 Sharing Good Practice Conference.
1. Poster: C.Coelho and S. Hanks; Closing the loop on feedback – using student voice to enhance student experience. At Vice Chancellor’s Teaching and Learning Conference, Plymouth University, 28th June 2013.
2. Poster: C.Coelho and S. Hanks; Pioneering near peer learning events to empower student development towards employment. At Vice Chancellor’s Teaching and Learning Conference, Plymouth University, 27th June 2014.
3. Poster: C.Coelho, S. Hanks and P, Schoenborn; What do dental trainers think of the preparedness for practice of dental graduates? At PedRIO Annual Conference 17th April 2015.
4. Poster: C. Coelho: Student led plenaries. At 2015 PUPSMD Education Conference, April 2015.
5. 22. Poster: J. Collingwood and C Coelho; “A 3D printed preclinical simulation training model to teach caries removal in Dentistry” at Health Education England Simulation, Innovation & Patient Safety Conference - Achieving Excellence in Healthcare, October 2019.
Personal
Personal
Conferences organised
2015 Education Conference for University of Plymouth Faculty of medicine and Dentistry Education conference
2018 Education Conference for University of Plymouth Faculty of medicine and Dentistry Education conference
Other academic activities
Awarded the 2016 ADEE (Association for Dental Education in Europe Excellence in Teaching Award (Early Career Educator).