Personal Statement
Steven Attwell is a Clinical Lecturer in Primary Care Dentistry at the University of Liverpool, with over 17 years of NHS clinical experience as a General Dental Practitioner and has taught clinical communication to undergraduate dental and medical students since 2010. His work is grounded in inclusive, patient-centred care. His Master's research has directly informed the development of a new component on inclusive and diverse clinical communication, launching in 2026/27.

Steven has a particular interest in emotional intelligence, cultural competency, and supporting internationally qualified clinicians in adapting to UK clinical practice, and serves as an examiner for the Overseas Registration Examination and for the Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS). His teaching spans simulated patient interactions, coaching, clinical supervision, formative feedback, and increasingly incorporates digital simulation tools, including haptics. Steven is currently looking into the emerging potential of AI-driven roleplay. Steven was part of the award-winning team recognised through the University of Liverpool Faculty Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Award (2024) for pioneering work on safe surgical skills training using haptically enabled virtual reality simulation — a project that reflects his commitment to enhancing clinical education through immersive technology.

He is also Co-Lead for Year 1 BDS/BSc, a Welfare Advisor, and serves as Staff-Student Liaison Committee (SSLC) Staff Co-Chair, a role to which he was elected by the student body in recognition of his commitment to student experience and advocacy.

Previously, Steven was a member of the Bupa Dental Care Advisory Committee, representing NHS general dentistry at a national level. He also contributed to Bupa's UK media team, supporting public engagement through press releases and commentary on dental health topics. During his time in practice, he was actively involved in implementing an NHS pilot scheme, which included strategic meetings with the Chief Dental Officers — helping trial service delivery and policy at a national level.

Research Overview
Current Research Interests

Steven has taught clinical communication across Dentistry and Medicine since 2010, informed by 17 years of clinical practice as a General Dental Practitioner. His current research focuses on preparing students for the realities and complexities of contemporary healthcare practice through communication education. His Master's research, using reflexive thematic analysis of focus groups with dental and dental therapy students, identified a range of areas where students feel underprepared for practice — including neurodiversity, communication through interpreters, third-party consultations, professional boundaries, inappropriate patient behaviour, complaints and differing health beliefs — and introduced the concept of stacked complexity, describing how multiple communication demands frequently converge and compound within a single clinical encounter.

Steven led this research, and it has directly informed the redevelopment of the school's communication skills curriculum, including a new inclusive and diverse communication skills component launching in the second year of study in 2026/27. Steven presented this research at the ADEE (Association for Dental Education in Europe) Annual Meeting in Budapest, August 2026, and the study has since been submitted to the European Journal of Dental Education.

Building on these findings, Steven is piloting the use of AI-supported simulation within communication skills teaching this year, exploring its potential to reduce learner anxiety, support feedback and reflection, and extend access to diverse patient scenarios. This work explores how AI-supported learning can complement, rather than replace, clinician-led teaching and simulated patient interaction.

Steven welcomes opportunities for collaboration in communication education, inclusive healthcare communication, simulation-based learning and student preparedness for practice.

Past Research Interests

Steven's early educational research focused on simulation-enhanced learning and the development of clinical competence within undergraduate dental education. As part of an interdisciplinary team, he contributed to the development and evaluation of haptic simulation models to support periodontal skills acquisition, co-presenting a poster titled "The Role of Haptic Simulation in Developing Periodontal Probing Skills in Undergraduate Dental Education" (2024) and presenting related work at ADEE on the use of haptic simulation in detecting and removing dental calculus. Steven has also presented this work to the SIMtoCARE Users Group and the European Forum of Haptics and Digital Dentistry Teachers (EFHDDT), both held at the ADEE Annual Meeting in Leuven, 2024. This work was recognised through the University of Liverpool Faculty Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Award (2024).

Main Focus of Interest: Clinical Communication, Preparedness for Practice and Educational Innovation

My research focuses on how healthcare education can better prepare students for the realities and complexities of contemporary clinical practice through communication education and educational innovation. I am particularly interested in communication preparedness, communication complexity, neurodiversity, cultural and linguistic diversity, professional boundaries and patient-centred care — and in how students develop communication competence, moving from early structured learning towards adaptive, context-sensitive communication in authentic clinical environments.

A second area of interest is the use of simulation and artificial intelligence to support communication skills development, including how these technologies might reduce learner anxiety, support reflective practice and feedback implementation, and create more accessible, inclusive communication learning experiences.

Ultimately, my work aims to ensure that graduates have not only the technical knowledge required for practice, but the confidence, judgement and communication skills to provide safe, compassionate and effective care within increasingly diverse and complex healthcare settings.