IMU Final Year Dental Student Wins Coveted Award at 31st SEAADE Scientific Meeting 2020

IMU final year dental student, Jacklyn Ng Zhi Ling participated in an oral presentation competition and presented her paper on clinical audit at the 31st South East Asian Association of Dental Education (SEAADE) Scientific Meeting 2020. The conference was held virtually for the first time as a joint virtual conference with IADR-SEA, organised by the Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Details of event
Event:	31st SEAADE Scientific Meeting 2020
Date:	23-25 November 2020
Platform:	Live Streamyard
Award:	SEAADE-Lion Innovation Award in Curriculum Design
Title of Paper:	Clinical Audit Cycle: A Vital Tool in Dental Education

Last year (2020), the conference’s theme was “Dental Education and Research During COVID-19 Pandemic.” This conference provided a platform for dental educators, practitioners and researchers to share and exchange latest academic insights and innovations in dental education, with the aim of advancing dental education towards the new normal in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to congratulate Jacklyn on her achievement for winning the coveted SEAADE-Lion Innovation Award for the Best Oral Presentation in Curriculum Design which was the highest award conferred at the SEAADE conference after competing with 34 other participants comprising of clinicians, lecturers and dental students.

Jacklyn shares more about her experience It was a truly eye-opening experience for me, gaining insight and exchanging knowledge on different teaching and learning methods in dental education. I am honoured to be given the opportunity to present my paper on clinical audit and addressed questions from the esteemed panel of judges who were experienced dental educators and deans of dental schools from South East Asian countries. I am truly humbled to have gained the recognition from the judges to be selected as the recipient of the coveted award among many experienced clinicians, dental educators and researchers.

I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Abhishek Parolia for his guidance and support throughout the process of conducting our clinical audit. This experience has given me an insight on the methods of carrying out a proper clinical audit based on evidence-based guidelines and the importance of clinical audit in improving our clinical work. I also appreciate his constructive feedback and guidance which has helped me greatly when I was preparing for my presentation. This achievement was definitely not a one man’s effort but attributed to the audit team whom I had the opportunity to work with for this clinical audit.

IMU has provided many avenues for students to hone their presentation skills and develop their confidence in presenting through the various student-led presentations in our curriculum. I have attended other conferences and listened to presentations and feedback from judges which I found to be helpful during my preparation. It is also important to conduct a thorough literature review and reading articles pertaining to clinical audit in order to equip myself with in-depth knowledge on the topic so that I can be well-prepared when addressing questions from the judges. The current trend of dental education is inclined towards student-centred learning, with student-driven learning activities. I am fortunate that we are exposed to clinical audit during our undergraduate course in IMU which is an effective tool in identifying gaps in our treatment and making improvements to provide consistent high quality of care for our patients which can be applied in our future practice. I hope that my humble experience and sharing will encourage students to challenge themselves to step out of their comfort zone and share their knowledge from their research in future conferences.