- Peninsula Dental School, John Bull Building, Research Way
- +44 1752 586779
- sally.hanks@plymouth.ac.uk

Profiles
Miss Sally Hanks
Associate Professor (Education)
Peninsula Dental School (Faculty of Health: Medicine, Dentistry and Human Sciences)
Role
Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) of Clinical Dental Education Associate Head of School, Teaching and Learning, Peninsula Dental School
Professionalism Module Lead for BDS and BSc Dental Therapy & Hygiene
Qualifications
I am head of teaching and learning at Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry and Module Lead for Professionalism for both BDS and BSc in Dental Therapy&Hygiene.
My particular clinical interest is in patient centred care and behavioural management for patients with special needs and those who have a fear of the dentist. I use clinical hypnosis and its philosophy to underpin all my work. My education interest is in leadership and personal and professional development to enable individuals to be the best they can be through the use of best practice, innovative and inclusive teaching, learning and assessment activities, as well as one-to-one development support. Communication plays a vital role in all of these areas, and my overarching interests are communication, leadership, coaching techniques, development of capability, professionalism and how to provide holistic and personalised care/education/support.
I have been awarded the prestigious Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and am Fellow of the Faculty of Dental Trainers of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.
I set up and was inaugural chair of the UK Council of the Dental Teachers of Professionalism - the home for the education of professionalism across dental education for undergraduate and postgraduate institutions.
I qualified from Bristol Dental School in 1993 and spent the first 10 years of my career working full time in primary care dentistry. This included roles in the NHS, private practice, SHO experience and as a civilian dental officer with the Royal Navy.
The next five-year phase saw my clinical career develop by working with special care patients and furthering my interest and expertise in behavioural management strategies. I gained my Advanced Diploma in Hypnosis and Stress Management from the University of Stafford in 2010.
Before joining Peninsula I was a Restorative Clinical Lecturer at Bristol Dental School. At Peninsula I quickly progressed to Final Year Lead, lead for professionalism and gained my Post-Graduate Certificate of Academic Practice. I have submitted my PhD in medical education related to leadership in primary care dental practice. Underpinned by a social constructivist approach, using traditional ethnography and innovative video reflexive ethnography methods and Activity Theory as the theoretical lens for analysis, the final Hanks framework is a conceptual framework of leadership for dentists that has been grounded in primary care practice.
My interest in patient- and student-centred education influences my approach to ongoing research projects and teaching. I continue to contribute to creating, developing and delivering innovative curriculum activities and Continuing Professional Development opportunities for undergraduate and post-graduate students, and qualified dentist,to ensure initial preparedness for practice, along with ongoing life long development.
I developed and led the first undergraduate dentistry humanities module, run the patient feedback strategy for the school, and set up our student voice (feedback) strategy. My motivation is to inspire and embed inclusivity and humanity into education and healthcare.
Professional membership
Faculty of Dental Trainers Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh
SRHE (Society for Research in higher Education)
IADR (International Association of Dental Research)
AMEE (Association of Medical Education in Europe)
ADEE (association of Dental Education in Europe)
BSODR (British Society or Oral Dental Research)
BSCAH (Accred) (British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis)
Roles on external bodies
Founder and founding chair: UK Council for the Dental Teachers of Professionalism
Tutor for number of regional and national groups (including DFT, British Association of Oral Surgeons) on subject of communication, medical hypnosis and behavioural management of the anxious patientBook proposal reviewer for Oxford University Press & Wiley
Teaching interests
The use of Medical Humanities in education to promote communication, empathy, team working and self awareness and development in healthcare students across a range of disciplines. While the humanities are widely used in medical education they are less evident within dental education, and in developing this for dental undergraduates in Peninsula, I am working collaboratively with medical school colleagues to develop a meaningful evaluation tool to provide an evidence base for its use.
I am also interested in the use of feedback as a formative assessment tool to encourage and enable student progression and learning. This is a complex area in the literature which I hope to further explore.
Undergraduateareas of teaching responsibility:
Communication
Hypnosis and Stress Management
Nonpharmacological treatment of anxious patients
Personal and professional development planning
Professionalism and performance
Feedback:Assessment and the Student Voice
Managing patient expectations
Management and Leadership in Dentistry
Treatment planning for children
Teamworking and management of the dysfunctional team
Staff serving as external examiners
University of Liverpool 2nd BDS Clinical Readiness Exam and the new centennial Curriculum.
Research interests
Current research:
PhD: Deconstructing, contextualizing and assessing management and leadership criteria for dental professionals: an ethnographic study of principles in practice
Multi disciplinary research team in collaboration with graduated students evaluating the perceptions of students on a teaching and learning resource (Daybook) which is designed to enhance capability, prepare for practice and educate for employment
Interprofessional research collaboration investigating developing capability in addition to competency
Completed PedRIO Funded project: What do trainers think of their trainees: Perceptions of trainers on the preparedness to practice of their year 1 Dental Foundation Trainees
Member of multi-disciplinary research collaboration: Plasticiser Phthalates, Endocrine Disrupters and Composite Breakdown Materials in Dental Patients
Medical Humanities interest group evaluating students’ perceptions of their dental undergraduate experience of the medical humanities
Research degrees awarded to supervised students
MSc Supervisor: An exploratory study investigating the effects of online human factors training on medical students’ behaviour in a peripheral intravenous cannulation hybrid simulation (successful supervision to completion with merit)
Clinical advisor PhD: Plasticiser Phthalates, Endocrine Disrupters and Composite Breakdown Materials in Dental Patients. Successful completion 2017
Grants & contracts
Key publications are highlighted
JournalsAdditional information
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Hanks S, Johnson I. Dental Teachers of Professionalism 2019 “Freestage: Developing a national group to support dental professionalism teaching and teachers” ADEE Annual Meeting: Berlin, Germany. Equipping our students to be dentists of the future 21st - 23rd August 2019
Hanks S, Cockerill J. 2019. Interprofessional Professionalism. ADEE Annual Meeting: Berlin, Germany. Equipping our students to be dentists of the future 21st - 23rd August 2019
Hanks S, Neve H. Upending Miller’s Pyramid: The importance of capability in preparing medical and dental students for the complexities of practice. Presentation at the 17th Ottawa Conference and the ANZAHPE 2016 Conference, Perth, Australia, March 2016
- Neve H, Hanks S. Professional capability in Medicine and Dentistry. Presentation at Assessment of Professionalism Conference, Plymouth University, December 2015.
- Neve H, Hanks S. Training for competence or capability: what is the difference, why does it matter and is capability a threshold concept? Presentation at Vice Chancellor's Teaching and Learning Conference, June 2015, Plymouth.
- Neve H. Capability and Competence: what is the difference and why does it matter? Presentation to UK Council of Teachers of Professionalism, November 2014, London.
- Assessment and remediation
- Neve H, Hanks S. Failing to Fail. Workshop at Assessment of Professionalism Conference, Plymouth University, December 2015.Neve H, Hanks S. Failing to Fail. Workshop at Assessment of Professionalism Conference, Plymouth University, December 2015.