Dentistry

Why Dentistry at RCSI Dublin?

At RCSI, our students enjoy an immersive educational journey with a strong focus on acquiring the clinical and communication skills necessary to effectively practice in complex healthcare environments and to serve diverse populations and cultures.

RCSI’s Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programme is studied over five years, on a full-time basis. It offers a vertically and horizontally integrated spiralled curriculum utilising a blend of teaching and learning methods, which combine clinical skills training with the acquisition of knowledge, skills, acumen and professional attributes.

All teaching and learning activities are patient- and student-centered, and are specifically designed for students to experience authentic and contextual learning in dentistry.

The programme ensures that you are fully prepared for a primary care dentistry career and provides the foundations on which to develop your knowledge and skills, facilitating you to enter dental specialist training programmes where appropriate.

IELTS

Teaching in RCSI is through the medium of English. As a consequence, all applicants are required to demonstrate a high level of English language competence. Applicants whose first language is not English must present a minimum overall average IELTS score of 6.5 with no individual band (reading, writing, listening and speaking) lower than 6.0. IELTS Certificates must be less than two years old at the time of admission. Equivalent scores in TOEFL are also acceptable.

Applicants presenting programmes that are delivered entirely through English (e.g. International Baccalaureate or A Levels) are not required to supply an IELTS certificate as part of their initial application. Please note that applicants presenting A Levels must hold a GCSE English grade 4 / C or above to meet RCSI's English language requirement.

Your future

At RCSI, our number one priority is to help you to realise your potential as a healthcare professional. We pride ourselves on producing graduates who are knowledgeable in the science of their discipline and highly skilled practitioners.

RCSI graduates are highly sought-after by leading employers and join a global alumni network with more than 30,000 healthcare professionals working across 96 countries.

Careers-focused education

All teaching and learning activities are patient and student-centred and are specifically designed for students to experience authentic and contextual learning. The goal is to ensure that students are fully prepared for a primary care career and, in addition, provides the foundations on which to develop their knowledge and skills enabling them to enter any dental specialist training programme.

The curriculum focuses not only on imparting essential theoretical knowledge and clinical skills but also on nurturing critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and analytical skills. These foundational skills are transferable and form the basis for continuous learning throughout a dental professional's career.

A small number of students are offered the opportunity to intercalate during their studies to achieve a master’s level qualification on graduation. Intercalation allows you to interrupt your studies for a year following satisfactory completion of Year 3 of the Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme, in order to join an alternative programme within the University, before re-joining the BDS programme at Year 4.