Dr Upen Patel BDS, AHEA, MFDS RCSEd, MJDF, FDS (Rest Dent) RCSEng, PhD

Dr Upen Patel

School of Dentistry
Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry
Academic Head of Clinical Practice Teaching Unit, Clinical Practice NHS Service Lead
BDS Programme Lead

Contact details

Address
The School of Dentistry
5 Mill Pool Way
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B5 7EG
United Kingdom

Upen is currently an Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry at Birmingham Dental Hospital & School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham. He leads the BDS Dental Degree Programme and the largest dental undergraduate teaching placement service, Clinical Practice, for Birmingham Community Healthcare Foundation Trust.

Externally, he currently represents the University of Birmingham at the:

  • Association for Dental Education in Europe: Executive Committee Member
  • Shaping the Future of Dental Education Global Initiative (ADEE & ADEA)
  • European Journal of Dental Education: Editorial Board Member
  • Dental Schools Council Assessment Alliance: Chairperson

Upen’s commitment and contribution to dentistry and dental education is recognised by the following accolades:

  • 2020: Nominated and Shortlisted for an Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
  • 2019: Best Poster Award in the Research category at the British Society of Restorative Dentistry Conference
  • 2018: Nominated for an Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
  • 2015: Teaching Academy Award for Educational Enhancement & Innovation in the Educational Innovation theme for work on the Clinical Assessment & Feedback System awarded by the University of Birmingham
  • 2015: Certificate of Merit for Poster Presentation in the Dental Education category awarded by the European Federation of Conservative Dentistry at the ConsEuro Conference
  • 2014: Early Career Educator Excellence in Dental Education Award by the Association for Dental Education in Europe
  • 2011: Best Poster Award at the Association for Dental Education in Europe Conference
  • 2010: Excellence in Teaching & Supporting Student Learning Award by the University of Birmingham, School of Dentistry
  • 2009: Rewarding Excellence in Learning and Teaching Award by the Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine of the Higher Education Academy
  • 2009: First Prize at the Graduate School Research Poster Competition awarded by the University of Birmingham
  • 2009: New Graduate Prize awarded by the British Society for the Study of Prosthetic Dentistry

His clinical interests are within the specialty of Restorative Dentistry and with a particular interest in the management of tooth loss and the rehabilitation of edentulous mouths with prostheses stabilised with titanium implants.

Upen takes great pride and enjoyment in the practice and teaching of Dentistry to those willing to learn with the goal of producing safe, responsible and efficient Dental Practitioners.

Qualifications

  • FDS (Rest Dent) RCSEng, Fellowship of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (Restorative Dentistry), Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2022
  • PhD in Ultrasound Mediated Dental Tissue Regeneration, University of Birmingham, 2016.
  • MJDF RCSEng, Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties, Royal College of Surgeons of England, 2012.
  • MFDS RCSEd, Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 2012.
  • AHEA, Associate Membership of the Higher Education Academy 2010.
  • Post Graduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (Part 1), University of Birmingham, 2010.
  • BDS (Clinical Distinction), University of Birmingham, 2006.

Biography

Dr Patel qualified as a dentist from the University of Birmingham in 2006 and after completing vocational training and a maxillofacial senior house officer job, returned to the University as a Clinical Lecturer in Restorative Dentistry.

Upen has since been actively involved in research completing his PhD studies in 2016 on the effects of ultrasound on dental regeneration and has presented his research at conferences nationally and internationally. He won first prize at the University of Birmingham Graduate School Research Poster Competition with his poster entitled ‘Ultrasound Induced Dental Regeneration’. Currently his research interest focuses on the application and the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on the repair mechanisms of the dental pulp; education, specifically assessment and feedback in clinical education and clinically, the rehabilitation of partially dentate and edentulous jaws using removable prostheses.

Upen teaches undergraduate dental students in all five years of the BDS degree programme. Since his appointment at the University of Birmingham he has been heavily involved in the delivery of both pre-clinical and clinical dental education. He was a module lead for the first year module ‘Professionalism and the Foundations of Dental Practice’ as well as organising and teaching the introductory clinical sessions ‘Clinical Photography and Impression Taking’ in the second year of the programme. He was responsible for organizing and delivering the ‘Simulated Skills in Prosthetic Dentistry’ course which prepares students for treating patients with removable dental prostheses. He introduced and developed the clinical competency in dental charting, ensuring dental students have the basic skills before they start treating patients and pioneered the concept of junior dental students actively learning from senior dental students during the degree programme.

Upen lectures and undertakes clinical teaching as part of the ‘Prosthetic Dentistry’ specialty area as well as leading the academic unit of ‘Clinical Practice’, the largest clinical placement dental students undertake and operates longitudinally though the clinical years of the BDS degree programme.

Upen is the currently the head of the BDS degree programme and his duties include the setting and marking of exam papers, pastoral care as a personal tutor to a group of dental students and has previously sat on the Admissions Executive Panel which manages the entry of new students to the BDS degree. Prior to his appointment as BDS programme lead, Upen was and continues to be the school lead for elearning and lead for assessment for the BDS programme, coordinating assessment with learning outcomes achieved by students and supports module leads with generating and standard setting their assessments.

Upen has completed part of the post graduate certificate in Learning & Teaching in Higher Education qualifying him as an Associate of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) of the UK. He has attended conferences on Dental Education in Europe where he has presented his prize winning entry of the Rewarding Excellence in Learning and Teaching award offered by the Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine (MEDEV) of the HEA. Upen was also been awarded the Early Career Educator Excellence in Dental Education Award from the Association of Dental Education in Europe, one of the few opportunities for international recognition of excellence in dental education. Upen is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Association for Dental Education in Europe.

Upen supports the development of the Clinical Assessment and Feedback System (CAFS) used by dental undergraduates nationally and internationally to record their clinical experience and assessment by teachers. As a member of the team he has presented CAFS nationally and internationally winning awards from the ConsEuro conference and the Teaching Academy Award from the University of Birmingham.

Teaching

Research

Dr Upen Patel completed his PhD in 2016 titled “Kilohertz Ultrasound as a Potential Therapy for Dental Repair”. He investigated the ultrasonic output of an ultrasound therapy device mapping the field of exposure and developed a novel method for the application of ultrasound to biological cells in vitro culture. He investigated the behaviour of a model cell line (MDPC-23) and primary human dental pulp cells in vitro culture when exposed to kilohertz ultrasound of different therapeutic intensities. Dr Patel utilised gene expression analysis methods to determine the effects of ultrasound on primary human dental pulp cells and analysed mineral deposits produced by these cells in culture by staining and using micro-computed tomography, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry.

Dr Patel will continue his research in this expanding field of regenerative medicine and will look to develop collaborations to further the research in this field and lead to successful research grant applications.

Dr Patel’s other interests include education, specifically assessment and feedback in clinical education and clinically, the rehabilitation of partially dentate and edentulous jaws using removable prostheses. Work is ongoing to develop these research fields at the School of Dentistry and is open to supervising PhD students.

Other activities

  • Programme Lead for BDS Degree Programme Sep 2021 to present.
  • NHS liaison to the School of Dentistry Senior Management Team Oct 2021 to present.
  • Head of the Clinical Practice academic department of the School of Dentistry Oct 2021 to present.
  • Module lead for 3rd year Introduction to Clinical Practice and 5th year Advanced Clinical Practice 2021 to present.
  • Clinical supervision and teaching of dental students on the Prosthetic Dentistry (3rd and 4th year BDS), Clinical Practice (3rd and 4th year BDS) and General Dental Practice (5th year BDS) modules 2008 to present.
  • Lead for the Practical Exercises in Welcome Week (1st year BDS) 2010 to present.
  • Member of the CAFS (Clinical Assessment & Feedback System) project team 2012 to present.
  • Member of all Progression, Continuous Assessment and Examination boards / committees in the BDS Degree Programme.
  • School of Dentistry IT Committee Member as BDS Programme Lead.
  • School of Dentistry Quality Assurance Committee Member as BDS Programme Lead.
  • School of Dentistry Education Committee Member as BDS Programme Lead.
  • BDS Degree Programme Curriculum Development Committee Member as BDS Programme Lead.
  • Dentistry Undergraduate Admissions Examiner.
  • Lead for the Junior Clinical Scholarship (3rd BDS) and the James Youngson (3rd BDS) awards.
  • Personal tutor to a group of undergraduate dental students providing pastoral care.
  • Contact person for inoculation injuries responsible for following up dental student and source patient results.
  • Module Lead for 3rd and 4th year BDS module Restorative Dentistry responsible for the Clinical Teaching of Prosthetic Dentistry 2020-2021.
  • Deputy Lead for Undergraduate Education for the School of Dentistry Sep 2020 – Aug 2021.
  • Responsible for the Clinical Simulation and Laboratory Technical Skills teaching programmes in Prosthetic Dentistry 2010-2021.
  • Lead for the Prosthetic Dentistry Specialty element of the OSCE assessment (2nd, 3rd & 4th year BDS) 2010-2021.
  • Module Lead for 1st year BDS module ‘Professionalism and the Foundations to Dental Practice’ 2010-2019.
  • Lead for Clinical Familiarisation, Charting Exercise and the Charting Competency assessment for the Fundamentals of Clinical Dentistry (2nd year) module 2010-2019.
  • Lead for eLearning in the School of Dentistry 2012-2021.
  • Lead for Assessment for the BDS Degree Programme 2016-2021.
  • University of Birmingham representative on the BCHCfT Dental Division Dental Audit Committee 2017 to present.
  • Support of junior dentists in training (DCT grade) at Birmingham Dental Hospital for Birmingham Community Healthcare Foundation Trust
  • Working with Health Education England and regions of the British Dental Association to plan, organise and deliver CPD qualifying hands-on and lecture based study courses to all professional members of the dental team including newly graduated dentists (Dental Foundation Training).
  • Chair of the Dental Schools Council Assessment Alliance (DSCAA) and committee member representing the Birmingham School of Dentistry.
  • Executive Committee Member of the Association for Dental Education in Europe 2021-2023.
  • Editorial Board Member of the European Journal of Dental Education.
  • Invited to participate as a workshop facilitator for the ‘Shaping the Future of Dental Education’ conference organised by ADEE and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) 2019.
  • Selected to serve as a recorder/rapporteur for the ‘Assessment in a Global Context’ workshop stream for the ‘Shaping the Future of Dental Education’ meeting organised by ADEE and the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) 2017.
  • University of Manchester, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health - School of Medical Sciences; DENT10340, DENT21040, DENT31000 2019-20 to 2023-24.
  • Cardiff University, School of Dentistry Year 1 and 2 (Primary Part 2C) 2018-19 to 2021-2022.
  • Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh & Dentsply Sirona Dental Skills Competition (Bristol) 2018-19.
  • University of Leeds, Schools of Dentistry & Psychology, Doctor of Philosophy; “Predicting sensorimotor and academic performance in dental students” March 2020.
  • Elected to the council of the British Society of Prosthodontics for a three year term 2018-2021.
  • Journal peer reviewer for articles published by Elsevier and the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute and also including the British Dental Journal, Dental Update, the European Journal of Dental Education, Reports, the European Journal of Prosthodontics and Restorative Dentistry, the Journal of Dentistry, the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, Scientific Reports and the Journal of Therapeutic Ultrasound.
  • Invited Conference Presentations
    • 2018 Implementing & Enhancing Dental Education with Technology (invited oral presentation) International Conference for Future Dentistry, Seoul National University School of Dentistry
    • 2014 Technology in Dental Education: eLearning @ Birmingham (invited oral presentation) American Dental Education Association International Workshop: A Global Perspective on Leading Change and Innovation in Dental Education
    • 2013 eLearning @ Birmingham (keynote oral presentation) Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2011 Smart Prosthetic Dentistry using e-Learning (keynote oral presentation) British Society of Prosthodontics
  • Conference Presentations
    • 2020 An Audit into Metal Denture Frameworks That Require a Laboratory Remake at Birmingham Dental Hospital (poster) N Archer*, O Jones, K Butt, US Patel & DC Attrill. British Society of Restorative Dentistry
    • 2019 Volumetric Analysis of Wear Patterns on Implant Locator Abutments (poster) K Ayub*, US Patel, N Vyas & D Newsum. British Society of Restorative Dentistry
    • 2018 A national approach to collating assessment load information in United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland dental schools (oral). US Patel* & Dental Schools Council Assessment Alliance. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2016 Diligence indicators to measure the performance of clinical dental students (oral) US Patel*, J Kelly, DC Attrill, DA White & DG Perryer. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2015 CAFS - Managing large data sets for effective learner feedback and teacher calibration (poster) US Patel*, J Kelly, DC Attrill, DA White & DG Perryer. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2015 CAFS - Enhancing Teacher Feedback and Learner Reflection in Clinical Dental Education (poster) DOI 10.1007/s00784-015-1486-4 US Patel*, J Kelly, DC Attrill, DA White & DG Perryer. European Federation of Conservative Dentistry (ConsEuro)
    • 2014 CAFS – Enhancing Assessment and Feedback in Clinical Dental Education (oral) US Patel*, J Kelly, DC Attrill, DA White & DG Perryer. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2014 Development of a Mobile Clinical Assessment and Feedback System – CAFS (poster) US Patel*, J Kelly, DC Attrill, DA White & DG Perryer. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2013 Student Ownership and Usage of Mobile Computing Devices in Dental Education (poster) US Patel* & DG Perryer. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2011 Supporting Independent Learning with Dental Charting (poster) US Patel*, DA White & DG Perryer. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2011 Supporting students’ clinical transition with virtual learning materials (poster) DA White*, DG Perryer, L Mackenzie, L Coulson & US Patel. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2011 Contribution of GCF to the Saliva Proteome: Quantitative Proteomic Analysis (poster) AJ Creese*, MM Grant, US Patel, P Weston, M de Jager, ILC Chapple & HJ Cooper. International Association for Dental Research
    • 2011 An in vitro set-up to study low-frequency ultrasound effects on dental cells (oral) US Patel*, AD Walmsley & BA Scheven. Ultrasonics Industries Association
    • 2011 Mandibular two- implant-retained overdenture: pre-prosthetic surgery and denture design (poster) A Krstevska*, N Karir, US Patel, AD Walmsley. British Society of Prosthodontics
    • 2011 How do patients clean their dentures? (poster) A Patel*, DC Attrill, US Patel. British Society of Prosthodontics
    • 2010 Low-frequency Ultrasound Stimulates Proliferation of Odontoblast-like Cells in vitro (poster) US Patel*, AD Walmsley & BA Scheven. International Association for Dental Research
    • 2010 The Mandibular Implant Stabilised Removable Prosthesis …a recipe for success? (poster) P Patel*, US Patel, B Aghabeigi & AD Walmsley   . British Society of Prosthodontics
    • 2010 Travelling Ultrasound: Transference in Multiwell Plates (poster)
    • US Patel*, AD Walmsley & BA Scheven. College of Medical and Dental Sciences Research Gala, University of Birmingham
    • 2009 Reflections on the role of feedback in motivating student learning (poster) US Patel*. Association for Dental Education in Europe
    • 2009 Ultrasound Induced Dental Regeneration (poster) US Patel*, AD Walmsley & BA Scheven. Graduate School Poster Conference, University of Birmingham
    • 2009 Slippy Skin and Lazy Bones: A Prosthodontic Rehabilitation (poster) US Patel*, KK Sidhu, AJ Summerwill & DC Attrill. British Society of Prosthodontics

Publications

Pereira AC, Dias da Silva MA, Patel US, Tanday A, Hill KB, Walmsley AD. Using quizzes to provide an effective and more enjoyable dental education: a pilot study. J Dent Educ. 2021 Sep 12. doi: 10.1111/eje.12716

Patel US, Shapira L, Gallagher JE, Davis J, Garcia LT, Valachovic RW. Engaging with global networking to enable global oral health. J Dent Educ. 2020;84:117-122. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12026

Patel US, Tonni I, Gadbury-Amyot C, Van der Vleuten CPM, Escudier M. Assessment in a global context: An international perspective on dental education. Eur J Dent Educ. 2018;22(Suppl. 1):21-27. doi: 10.1111/eje.12343

Patel US, Ghorayeb SR, Yamashita Y, Atanda F, Walmsley AD & Scheven BA. Ultrasound field characterization and bioeffects in multiwell culture plates. Journal of Therapeutic Ultrasound Jun 2015, 3(8). doi:10.1186/s40349-015-0028-5

Singhota S, Attrill DC, Patel US & Murphy P. A hinged two-part partial denture used in conjunction with severely tilted teeth – a case report. European Journal of Prosthodontics and Restorative Dentistry Jun 2014, 22(2), 64-66.

Patel US & Walmsley AD. Implant retained mandibular denture: planning to delivery – case report. Dental Update Mar 2014, 41(2), 137-143.

Parmar S, Patel US, Karir N & Walmsley AD. Long and short term management of implant supported mandibular overdentures. Dental Update Dec 2013, 40(10), 830-835.

Ghorayeb SR, Patel US, Walmsley AD & Scheven BA. Biophysical characterization of low-frequency ultrasound interaction with dental pulp stem cells. Journal of Therapeutic Ultrasound Aug 2013, 1(12). doi:10.1186/2050-5736-1-12

 

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