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Preparing for LDS
The Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS) is the oldest continuously existing dental qualification in the UK, awarded by the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS).
The award of this postgraduate qualification offers key career benefits for dentists worldwide and can be used as a post-nominal after your name in addition to your degree like a membership exam Like MJDF/MFDS
Successful UK candidates are eligible to become a member of the RCS, while successful international candidates are eligible to apply for registration with the General Dental Council (GDC).
Candidates must pass Part2 within five years of passing Part 1
Up to four attempts are allowed for each part of the exam.
Owing to the number of candidates applying for the LDS Part 1 examination, places will now be granted through a random ballot system and you may be unable to secure four Part 2 places in five years.
Part 1 of the exam is conducted only once a year and places are very limited. Part 2 is conducted twice a year, again with limited availability.
Candidates that are successful will be required to complete payment within 5 working days of receiving the confirmation email.
Candidates are also required to post in all necessary documentation within 10 working days of confirmation.
Create an RCS Online account.
Application for LDS Part 1 is available to book online
Requirements
Final degree certificate - Certified
NARIC certificate Evidence of your primary dental qualification must be supported by a NARIC Statement of Comparability. - Original
Passport copy - Certified
Translations – any required documents which are not in English must be accompanied by an exact translation. You must send us a certified copy of the original document and correctly certified translation.
Name Change If the name on your application differs from that on any other documents which you send once you have applied online, you must give us evidence of the legality of your name change, for example, a marriage certificate.
LDS1 is a paper-based 6-hour exam -theory
It is comprised of two papers: single best answer (SBA) questions and extended matching (EMQ) questions
Both Part 1 papers must be passed at one sitting for candidates to progress to Part 2.
The Part 1 LDS exam is normally held at least once per year in the UK.
Application
Candidates must submit their completed Part 2 application form and supporting documentation by post only.
Hand-delivered application forms will not be processed and will be returned.
Please note in addition that applications will not be accepted if delivered by the courier unless these applications have been sent from outside of the UK.
Candidates are advised to get proof of postage when submitting their application form.
The exam is £2940.
Due to the high volume of applications, places will be given on a first come first serve basis and any application received before the application opening date will not be considered and will be returned.
Application forms will not be accepted if submitted or delivered by hand, any applications delivered in this way will be returned
Requirements
Character referee
You must sign the form after you have completed sections 1-4 and signed the form.
The date the referee signs must not be earlier than the date you have signed.
The referee must be a registered professional and must not be a relative.
Clinical Experience requirement
You must provide one or more references to support the fact that you have completed at least 1600 hours of clinical experience prior to applying to sit the LDS examination.
If you are submitting evidence from your primary dental qualification as evidence of prior clinical experience, the dean of the dental school must be the referee.
If you are submitting evidence from post-qualification work experience, the person verifying the reference must be or must have been, registered as a professional with the regulatory body in the country where you worked or studied and must be, or have been, your employer.
If you are submitting evidence of experience gained in the UK under temporary registration the referee must be the person who employed you for the purposes of temporary registration.
Basic Life Support (BLS)
You must produce a current certificate of competence for BLS from a recognised centre in the UK.
Vaccinations
You must submit authenticated Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV certificates from an accredited UK laboratory, which shows a full serological status.
Certificate or Letter of Good Standing
This document cannot be more than three months old at the time of your application.
The original certificate or letter must be submitted.
International English Testing System (IELTS)/TOFEL
Showing a minimum overall score of 7.0, with no individual sections lower than 6.5. The IELTS
TOEFL is an acceptable alternative to IELTS. The required standard is 100 score overall with no less than 24/30 in each individual section
Test Report Form must be no more than two years old
You must provide the original certificate for the IELTS/TOFEL
Applications Checklist
attached at the end of the Application Form, confirming the documents that you have provided.
Please note that none of the documents you submit will be returned to you.
Any required documents, which are not in English must be accompanied by an exact translation
The individual must verify and sign the photocopied documents as well as the application form, stating that the photocopies you have supplied are the copies of the originals.
Preparation
The exam is very similar to ORE, with ME as a part of the OSCE and DPT.
The Part 2 exam of the Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS) is held over a minimum of three days and consists of three sections:
Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) of two hours duration
An operative test on a dental manikin of up to three hours duration
The ‘unseen case’ exam - (based on an objective structured long examination – OSLE model) which is designed to test candidates’ diagnosis treatment planning and clinical reasoning. Four cases (approximately 32 minutes each case)
Courses - same as on ORE page.
LDS Completion
There is a £230 completion fee for those completing an FDS Royal College of Surgeons of England diploma.
This fee will be collected once you have passed the exam.
Fathima Experience - LDS - This will give you an idea of the exam.
LDS PART 1
I have passed Lds part 1 in April 2015. Its theory exam and paper-based.For studying we need
Pink book
Bluebook
Master dentistry volume 1 & 2
Medical problems solving in dentistry
Past ore/Lds feedbacks
Latest guidelines, BDA advice sheets, resuscitation guidelines, Scottish guidelines are all important.
The LDS exam is more clinical oriented so can expect more questions from clinical subjects, basics hardly few questions from anatomy.
LDS part 2
There are 2 exams in 1 year conducted in Jan and July/August
It’s the toughest part.I mean studying wise don’t have much as compared to part 1.How you perform on the day is important as well as luck also play a part.
It’s a 3 days exam
First-day osce and Medical emergency-total 20 stations(12 osce station, 4 ME( very important as failing one ME can fail the whole exam, you can get actors or trainee dental nurse explaining ME boxes or an examiner asking questions and ask you to do something, 4 rest station( you can do anything here just relax(have some water, go to the restroom if needed),
2nd day -Unseen cases/DTP-
There are 4 cases 30 minutes each.need to take a history, task phase and management phase(10 min each)
3rd-day Manikin-3hour exam.
Can get any 3-4 exercises.clinical scenario of the patient will be given and x-ray given to make some clinical judgement regarding the treatment and do the preparation
These are the few FB groups
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