Professor Sally Hanks

Associate Head of School, Teaching and Learning, Peninsula Dental School

Qualifications

BDS PhD PFHEA PGCAP BSCAH Adv Dip (Accred) FDTFEd 

I am head of teaching and learning at Peninsula School of Dentistry University of Plymouth. 

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 of 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 and have been invited onto the Steering Group for the the ADEE Professionalism Community of Practice.

Professional membership

Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) 

Faculty of Dental Trainers Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh

SRHE (Society for Research in higher Education)

AMEE (Association of Medical Education in Europe)

ADEE (association of Dental Education in Europe)

BSCAH (Accred) (British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis)

Roles on external bodies

Dental School Council Education Leads Committee.

La Trobe Rural Health School Course Advisory Committee Dental and Oral Healthcare programmes, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.

Founder and founding chair: UK Council for the Dental Teachers of Professionalism

Teaching interests

The use of Health Humanities, integrative and inter-professional education to promote development of communication, empathy, team working, self awareness, emotional intelligence and self-development in healthcare students across a range of disciplines for the benefit of patient care. While the humanities are widely used in medical education they are less evident within dental education. In developing inter professional learning opportunities for dental undergraduates in Peninsula, I work with colleagues across the Faculty of Health and Arts and Humanities to develop such opportunities.

Staff serving as external examiners

University of Liverpool 2nd BDS Clinical Readiness Exam and the new centennial Curriculum.

Research interests

I am particularly interested in undertaking robust qualitative research and my main areas of focus are leadership, capability and professionalism. All these areas are related to supporting students to be prepared for, and to continually develop and strive for excellence in, the ‘real world’ of their chosen clinical field.

I am also interested in clinical translational or regulatory research that informs or influences education directly.

Ongoing projects

GDC funded: Unlocking the potential of GDC Fitness to Practise data

Locally funded: Exploration of barriers, facilitators and enablers influencing recruitment and retention of dentists to South West England

SIF funded: The Digital Dimensions of Affective Intelligence in Clinical Care and Clinical Training

PhD supervised projects: Understanding how people interpret and respond to uncertainties in oral health-related information – An exploratory study among selected multi-ethnic groups of Malaysia; Evaluating the function of ACE2 in oral tissues associated COVID-19 infection

National Collaborations HEE funded: Ensuring a continuum approach to dental education (Peninsula, Liverpool and Newcastle)

Recently completed research:

GDC funded: Review and mapping of basic dental training in EU member states final report available

SIF funded: Enhancing the acquisition of soft skills, sensitivity and anticipation in training clinical dentists through video ethnographic methods. How we can prepare and sensitise clinical dentists to anticipate discomfort and the unexpected in their practice?

Interdisciplinary project: audio diaries to explore transformative learning through social engagement 

PhD: Deconstructing, contextualising and assessing management and leadership criteria for dental professionals: an ethnographic study of principles in practice

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

Conferences organised

Joint GDC, Dental Schools' Council & Dental Teacher's of Professionalism conference: Developing a common approach to Student Fitness to Practise. 29th January 2020. QMUL, London

BSCAH Annual Conference 2020 . Think it possible that you may be mistaken? Challenging assumptions & developing new ideas. Dartington Hall, Devon POSTPONED DUE TO COVID 19 until SUMMER 2021

Additional information