Dr Cathy Coelho

Biography

As a dentist with 35 years experience, I am passionate about educating dental clinicians for the future through passing on my skills, knowledge and by acting as a positive role model. My journey into academia started in 2007 as University of Plymouth's Peninsula Dental School as an enquiry-based learning facilitator and then clinical supervisor. I obtained a Masters in Clinical Education and became a full time academic in 2012. Since then I have expanded my portfolio and have numerous roles and responsibilities:

I am an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in Clinical Dental Education.

I am the Faculty of Health's Associate Dean for Health and Conduct.

I am the Clinical Lead for the Simulated Dental Learning Environment at Peninsula Dental School.

I chair the Faculty of Health Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee.

As Clinical Lead for the Simulated Dental Learning Environment I oversee the undergraduate student learning and assessment experience of all 5-years of the Dentistry BDS programme and 3-years of the Dental Therapy DTH programme at Peninsula Dental School, covering the 68-phantom head facility in Plymouth, the 17-phantom head facility in Exeter and the 8-phantom head facility in Truro.

I am a member of the steering group for the UK and Eire Clinical Skills Collaboration Group and a committee member of Dental School’s Counsel Assessment Alliance.

I am the Module Lead for the BDS programme’s Clinical Dental Practice 1-3 modules and DTH programme’s Clinical Dental Practice 1 module

I lead the Academic Remediation support process at Peninsula Dental School that supports academically struggling students.

My sustained track record of being an outstanding educator has been recognised over the years:

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 Mental Health first-aider, Disability Champion and mentor for academic promotions, HEA fellowship and alumni.

I am the Safeguarding Lead and Designated safeguarding Officer for the Peninsula Dental School.

Equality is at the heart of everything I do. I celebrate the richness that diversity offers, whilst recognising that at times some people need support to be included. I participate in various forums that raise Equality, Diversity and Inclusion matters:

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

I use these roles to promote inclusive, fair, non-judgmental attitudes, behaviour and actions.

I am also an External Examiner for the General Dental Council's Overseas Registration Exam

Qualifications

BDS 1987

Masters in Clinical Education 2016.

Post-Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education 2013.

Post-Graduate Diploma in Clinical Education 2014.

Professional membership

General Dental Council

Senior Fellow of HEA

Fellow of the Academy of Medical Educators

International Association for Dental Research

Association of Dental Education in Europe

Association of Dental Education in Europe Special Interest Group: Dental Educators on the Move

British Society for Oral and Dental Research

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 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 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".

2014: University of Plymouth PedRIO grant

Publications

Key publications

Key publications are highlighted

Journals

Articles

Burns L, Coelho C & Addy A (2022) 'Ethnic diversity in academic dentistry in the United Kingdom' European Journal of Dental Education , DOI Open access

Tredwin C, Hanks S, Witton R, McColl E & Coelho C (2022) 'Dental education in primary care: 14 years of Peninsula Dental School' British Dental Journal 233, (3) 227-231 , DOI Open access

Coelho C, Tredwin C, Watson H & Hanks S (2022) 'It is difficult to think about becoming what you have never seen”: Black students perceptions around a career in academic dentistry' British Dental Journal (BDJ) , DOI Open access

Ali K, McColl E, Tredwin C, Hanks S, Coelho C & Witton R (2021) 'Addressing racial inequalities in dental education: decolonising the dental curricula' British Dental Journal 230, (3) 165-169 Publisher Site , DOI Open access

Hanks SJ & Coelho CS (2020) 'Students’ views on the sustained impact of a learning approach developed by blending pedagogy to prepare for professional practice: introducing ‘Daybook’' European Journal of Dental Education , DOI Open access

Zahra D, Bennett J, Belfield L, Ali K, McIlwaine C, Bruce M, Jones G, Brookes ZL, Coelho C & Zaric S (2019) 'Effect of Constant versus Variable Small-Group Facilitators on Student Basic Science Knowledge in an Enquiry-Based Dental Curriculum' European Journal of Dental Education 0, (ja) Author Site , DOI Open access

Coelho C, Zahra D, Ali K & Tredwin C (2019) 'To accept or decline academic remediation: What difference does it make?' Medical Teacher 0, 1-6 Publisher Site , DOI Open access

Coelho C & Mead M (2018) 'Sepsis: the applicability to dental care professionals' British Dental Journal 225, (12) 1078-1081 Author Site , DOI Open access

Hanks S, Coelho C & Coster R (2018) 'Prepared for practice and equipped for employment: what do dental foundation trainers think of their trainees?' British Dental Journal 225, (6) 549-555 Author Site , DOI Open access

Coelho CS, Witton R & Smith W (2018) 'Assisting communication in the dental setting: a student team working initiative with stroke patients' Journal of Disability and Oral Health 19, (1) , DOI Open access

Coelho C, Pooler J & Lloyd H (2017) 'Using patients as educators for communication skills: Exploring dental students' and patients' views' European Journal of Dental Education Author Site , DOI Open access

Ali K, Zahra D, Coelho C, Jones G & Tredwin C (2017) 'Academic performance of undergraduate dental students with learning disabilities' British Dental Journal 222, (3) 205-208 , DOI Open access

Coelho CS & Moles DR (2015) 'Student perceptions of a spiral curriculum' European Journal of Dental Education 20, (3) 161-166 , DOI Open access

Coelho CS (2014) 'Facilitating facilitators to facilitate in problem or enquiry based learning sessions' Journal of Problem Based Learning in Higher Education 2, (1) Author Site

Conference Papers

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.

Presentations and posters

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

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).

Represented Plymouth University as a Finalist in the 2017 Higher Education Academy Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence.

Profiles

Associate Professor (Education)

Peninsula Dental School (Faculty of Health)