Where did the idea come from?

We had long recognised the absence of diverse dental images in educational resources – with only a handful of options available online – and this wasn’t sitting right with us.  Especially as our students in the Dental school are from a range of cultural, ethnic and LGBT+ backgrounds.

During a staff departmental training day outlining the University of Sheffield One University pillar, we were introduced to the remarkable work of Malone Mukwende, a medical student from St George's University, London: the Mind The Gap project. His modest, yet profoundly impactful endeavour inspired us to embark on a similar mission right here at the University of Sheffield in the School of Clinical Dentistry. 

Around the same time, one of our clinical Academics received an email from a student expressing gratitude for incorporating images of individuals with brown skin in her lecture; a simple act that had not only illustrated the dental condition but also made that student feel acknowledged. 

This was the pivotal moment that changed everything.

How did we get to this point?

Collaborating closely with our One University Director, we navigated the technicalities of obtaining patient consent for images used for educational purposes. We gathered all available images from existing databases and consolidated them into a comprehensive repository. We also secured funding from the University of Sheffield to recruit a very talented intern to help us administrate the project . 

Our commitment to sourcing diverse images continues as we strive to bridge the representation gap every single day.

The images housed within our Bridging the Gap repository have been contributed freely by patients, as well as student and staff volunteers, all with the common purpose of advancing education. We extend an open invitation to university institutions, teachers, and academics to request these images free of charge for their own educational pursuits, and to contribute images to our growing repository so there is a central location for this essential resource. 

The name "Bridging the Gap" symbolises our mission to bridge the representation gap of clinical manifestation images from patients with diverse skin tones, ensuring a truly inclusive learning experience.

Through our logo, we tried to embody the essence of our project by showing that the skin, gums, and lips can have very diverse tones.