Jimmy Steele Scholarship

Meet James, a second year Dentistry student and a recipient of the Jimmy Steele Scholarship.

Smoothing the pathway to becoming a great dentist

The Scholarship was established in memory of Emeritus Professor Jimmy Steele CBE, who was Head of the Dental School, to help students who might face financial stress in accessing a degree. The hope is that the support will go a little way to smoothing the pathway to becoming a great dentist. This is James' story.

"I had the opportunity to complete work experience in a dental practice during Year 10. Since then, I knew that I wanted to study Dentistry at university.

"A big part of my decision to study at 缅北禁地 was the PARTNERS programme. During the PARTNERS summer school, I gained an insight into what studying dentistry would involve and it made me even more excited to come to 缅北禁地. Last week, we learnt about one of the topics that we were introduced to at the summer school, so that was really helpful to already have a basic understanding of what I was going to be learning.

"The course modules also appealed to me, and I liked the way that it incorporated more practicals and clinics as the years went on. The fact that the Dental Hospital is attached to the Dental School was also a big factor.

"When I had my interview, I found the lecturers to be really friendly. One of the lecturers who was on my interview panel teaches dental materials and I was studying woodwork in sixth form at the time, so we had a lot to talk about. I didn鈥檛 realise materials would be such a big part of the course, that made me want to study at 缅北禁地 even more.

"I鈥檓 really enjoying the practical side of the course and I鈥檝e already had a taster session of the clinical side of things. I鈥檓 looking forward to moving onto clinics after exams. I鈥檝e also had the opportunity to study cadavers, which I found really interesting.

"I鈥檝e met a lot of people on my course through the group work that we do, and I鈥檝e made some really good friends who I鈥檓 going to be living with next year.

"I鈥檝e enjoyed exploring 缅北禁地, as I didn鈥檛 know much about the city before I applied to university. There are so many nice places to visit, especially in the summer, such as Tynemouth and Jesmond Dene. The campus is really nice too.

"One of my favourite extracurricular activities is 鈥楤rush Up鈥� which involves going out into primary schools in the local area and teaching them about the importance of oral hygiene through different activity stations - I find it really rewarding! I also do jiu-jitsu and six-a-side football at the Sports Centre, and I use the gym there too.

""I鈥檝e always been keen to work in a hospital and when I graduate, I would like to specialise in oral surgery.

I鈥檓 grateful for the scholarship because it has helped me massively and made a huge difference to my studies, because I haven鈥檛 had to have as much stress on me. With the first instalment, I was able to purchase an iPad, which is what I use for my studies. I was previously having to write up my notes during lectures.

"I got the opportunity to meet Jimmy鈥檚 wife, Kate, at the annual Supporter Thank You Event. The event was great, as it鈥檚 nice to know where the support comes from and to be able to express my appreciation in person."

"The Jimmy Steele Scholarship has relieved a lot of financial pressure for my family by helping towards my accommodation costs and bills. If I didn鈥檛 receive the scholarship, I would have had to apply for a part-time job alongside my studies which would have been a struggle to balance whilst studying such an intense course."

James, Jimmy Steele Scholarship recipient, dentistry student

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