Upen Patel is a Clinical Lecturer in Restorative Dentistry.
His research focuses on the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on the repair mechanisms of the dental pulp.
Upen takes great pride and enjoyment in the teaching of dentistry to his students with the goal of producing safe, responsible and efficient professional graduates.
His clinical interests are spread across the different dental specialities with a particular interest in the management of tooth loss in the human adult, specifically with the use of prostheses stabilised with titanium implants.
Upen Patel qualified with a BDS (Dist) from the University of Birmingham in 2006. After completing Dental Vocational Training in the Eastern Deanery and a position as a Senior House Officer at Ipswich Hospital Maxillofacial Department, he took up the post of Clinical Lecturer at the School of Dentistry, University of Birmingham in 2008.
Upen has since been actively involved in research working towards a PhD on the effects of ultrasound on dental regeneration and has presented his research at conferences nationally and internationally. He won first prize at the 2009 University of Birmingham Graduate School Research Poster Competition with his poster entitled ‘Ultrasound Induced Dental Regeneration’.
Upen teaches undergraduate dental students in all five years of the BDS degree. He is module lead for the first year module ‘Learning and Professionalism in Dentistry’ as well as organizing and teaching the introductory clinical sessions ‘Clinical Photography and Impression Taking’ in the second year. He is responsible for organizing and delivering the ‘Simulated Skills in Prosthetic Dentistry’ course which prepares students for treating patients with removable prostheses. Upen also lectures and undertakes clinical teaching as part of the ‘Prosthetics Dentistry’ module as well as the general teaching clinics of ‘Clinical Practice’ and more specifically the clinical competency in dental charting, ensuring dental students have the basic skills before they start treating patients. His other duties including the setting and marking of exam papers, pastoral care as a personal tutor to a group of dental students and is on the Admissions Executive Panel which manages the entry of new students to the BDS degree. Upen is the school lead for e-learning and attends regular meetings with the School of Dentistry Curriculum Development Committee, IT Committee and the College of Medical and Dental Sciences e-learning committee.
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 2009 offered by the Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine (MEDEV) of the HEA.