Dental Society Widening Participation Scheme
From Balraj Singh Sohal, KCL Dental Society Student President
I’m proud to formally announce the launch of the Dental Society Widening Participation scheme. The aim of this scheme is to allow King's dental students to share their experiences of applying to dental school, to offer personal statement guidance and interview preparation tips as well as an insight into the life of a dental student. We aim to share information with those students in schools performing under the national average, as they would not usually have access to this content, hence improving their prospects of gaining a place to read dentistry. We aim to work in partnership with schools performing below the national average where the students generally do not have access to such support when applying to higher education programmes. In doing so we aim to help improve these student prospects in applying to dental school.
This programme is not only beneficial to the A level students on the receiving end of this advice but also our dental students. It is an opportunity for them to give back to the community, share their knowledge and gain an insight into the barriers some students are faced with due to their backgrounds when applying, all of which is an invaluable experience in my eyes.
On Friday 9th October, alongside some dental society committee members, I visited the Oasis Academy in Enfield. This school had 4 students interested in applying to dentistry, a number the teacher said was extremely impressive given the usual academic expectations of the school. The teacher who invited us in to speak mentioned that last year not one student gained a place to study dentistry and commended this new widening participation scheme given the impact it has already had. She went onto say “hearing from students who are in a position these school pupils aspire to be in is very academically motivating and can give them the impression achieving a place to study dentistry is a realistic achievement”, hopefully encouraging further students to apply to King’s. On this school visit Kirsty, head of the widening participation at King’s, presented information about the application process specific to King’s, which was supplemented by students sharing their experiences of being a dental student, alongside tips on applying.
To open up this rewarding opportunity to the rest of the dental school Kirsty and the Dental society and co-hosting an induction lecture on Thursday 20th October 5.00-7.00pm in the Harris Lecture Theatre. The aim of this training is to prepare the students representing King’s and the Dental Society of what to expect before they are able to visit the schools.
One of the goals I set myself before I began my role as Dental Society Student President was to increase the dental societies charitable profile and contribute to the wider society and I feel through this scheme we will do exactly that. Considering at King’s we are one of the only few universities to offer the Enhanced Support Dental Programme, this widening participation project is a great supplement to an already valuable programme.
Balraj Singh Sohal
KCL Dental Society Student President