Our professional doctorate in dental science offers students a high-quality training experience led by a commited team of dentistry specialists.
What is a professional doctorate?
Professional doctorates make up a small but significant proportion of the doctoral qualifications currently on offer in the UK. Professional doctorates contain taught elements with significant lecture and seminar content, but final award of the doctorate is based on a supervised research project normally located within the candidate's profession and assessed through submission of a thesis. The criteria for the research project assessment is similar to a PhD.
For further information from The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education regarding professional doctorate degrees please see DDSc Doctoral Degree Characteristics and DDSc Qualifications Framework.
Professional degrees for clinicians
These programmes are designed for clinical professionals. As with any other research degree, you will, with the advice and guidance of your personal supervisors, produce a piece of original research. The difference is that your research will be informed by your own area of expertise and will usually seek to develop understanding that contributes to professional excellence and greater knowledge in your clinical specialism.
International recognition
The UK professional doctorate is an internationally recognised and respected academic qualification. Our DDSc students come from inside and outside the European Union. A higher degree from a Russell Group university like the University of Liverpool is recognised for its quality and valued by employers worldwide.
Professional doctorate and specialist training
The professional doctorate is a qualification that contains professional skills training. Students who successfully complete the DDSc programme in the relevant subject area and will be awarded the DDSc (endodontic / orthodontic / paediatric dentistry practice/ special care dentistry) from the University of Liverpool. GDC specialist curricula and the Royal Colleges membership examination are mapped and embedded into the DDSc programme. This allow our students to sit the Royal Colleges exams and obtain both the professional doctorate and Royal College membership.
Career opportunities for DDSc graduates consist of:
- Specialist endodontic / orthodontic / paediatric dentistry practice
- Specialist in community dental service
- Hospital consultant
- Hospital specialist
- Clinical academics such as clinical lecturer, senior clinical lecturer and professor
PhD opportunities
With excellent facilities, cutting edge technology and collaborations with world class researchers, we are looking for prospective PhD students to work with us on a range of exciting projects.
Research environment to produce the best results
Our research culture is friendly, supportive and positive. We enjoy collaborations with colleagues across the university and beyond.
We welcome and support prospective students who are either able to self-fund their PhD studies or are planning for or have already secured a funded PhD scholarship. Interested candidates please email ilcamspgradmin@liverpool.ac.uk Information about the level of funding needed to self-fund is available here.
European Union or international students whose first language is not English are usually required to provide an IELTS (or equivalent) test score to demonstrate their proficiency in English. See here for full details.
View our PhD in Dental Science here
Our programmes
Orthodontics DDSc
A programme designed for those who wish to specialise in the practice of orthodontics, with a research element and clinical skill development.
Endodontics DDSc
Graduates from this programme leave us as fully trained specialists in Endodontics, and how to carry out a range of clinical and surgical treatments.
Paediatric dentristry DDSc
For those who wish to pursue a career helping children through paediatric dentistry, this programme enables the student to carry out all the necessary care.
My main aim coming to Liverpool was to join a program that would challenge and bring out the best in me. The clinical experiences that I have gained in this research rich environment was more than I could ever asked for! Now it’s time to take what I have learnt and make a difference.
Salman Sarkhouh - DDSc Orthodontics
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