Daughter’s Dentistry Degree brings delight to Dundee lecturer

Ailidh Richardson will graduate from the University’s School of Dentistry on the afternoon of Wednesday 25 May. In doing so, she will follow in the path of her parents, Alison and Mark, who met while undertaking their own Dentistry degrees at Dundee in the 1980s.

Mark has subsequently returned to lecture at the School, but despite the historic connections Ailidh insists she felt no pressure to follow in her parents’ footsteps.

“There was never any pressure on me to do Dentistry, even though it runs in the family,” she said. “I originally completed a degree in Oral Health Sciences at Edinburgh but knew I wanted to do my postgraduate studies in Dentistry at Dundee.

“I’ve really enjoyed my course here. We were able to get some clinical experience early on, which was great for me. The tutors were also fantastic – I’ve always felt fully supported throughout my time here and I always had the feeling that they were genuinely rooting for me to succeed.”

Mark and Alison met as students while both undertook their Dentistry qualifications. After they graduated in 1988, Mark’s career in the RAF Dental Branch took off, taking the family to a multitude of countries, including Brunei, Cyprus, Germany, the Netherlands, and even Ascension Island.

After three decades of globetrotting, Mark, who held the rank of Group Captain in the RAF, and Alison, who is now a primary school teacher, returned to the Dundee area for family reasons. This allowed them to be closer to Ailidh as she polished off her own training.

“It’s been really exciting coming back to Dundee,” said Mark. “The faces are obviously different, and the technology has all changed, but it has felt very much like coming home.

“I really enjoyed my career in the military, and I always wondered if anything else could match that because I enjoyed the hands-on aspect of practicing dentistry. But working with the students is tremendously rewarding and very enjoyable”

As she prepares to cut her teeth during her Foundation Year, Ailidh is already looking towards her long-term future.

“I don't think I would want to move 19 times in 34 years like my parents - I’ve already experienced that,” she said. “But I think I would like to pursue a career in teaching, and I would quite like to do that here at Dundee. That’s something I will think about after my Foundation Year.”

Dundee is renowned for its School of Dentistry, which earlier this month was named as the best in the country in the latest edition of the Complete University Guide for an unprecedented third year in a row.

Wednesday’s ceremony takes place as part of four days of Summer Graduation celebrations, which will see more than 2400 students honoured.