For our patients to have the best care, we need to do the best by our trainees
11 December 2020 (Last updated: 11 Dec 2020 10:06)
Oral and maxillofacial surgery specialty leaders: “Trainees are our future! For our patients to have the best care, we need to do the best by our trainees”
Austen Smith, 2021 incoming President of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS), and Kaveh Shakib Editor of the leading surgical specialty journal BJOMS (the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery) are focused on trainees and the future of the specialty.
Kaveh Shakib has planned the entire December 2020 issue around papers and letters on training and education with contributions from the top to the bottom of the profession: “The journal always aims to inform and inspire. This special edition shows the importance we give to training. We want everyone to read the December BJOMS and reply so we can publish their responses.”
Speaking at the BAOMS Council meeting today, Austen Smith said: “Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is the surgical interface between medicine and dentistry. Our length of training is longer because training and dual degrees in medicine and dentistry are required. A paper in this special BJOMS shows that trainees join our specialist list at a similar age to other surgical trainees. Doctors or dentists interested in a career of unique challenges should consider OMFS.”
He added: “Our unusual training pathway means that we have been reviewed twice by medical regulator the General Medical Council (GMC), which agrees with BAOMS that our future is as a dual degree speciality. However, there is a need to find ways to streamline training without compromising its quality. This is where we need everyone’s help.”
Austen Smith emphasised that OMFS is a family-friendly and diverse speciality: “Our trainees come from both dental and medicine-first backgrounds. New papers in the special BJOMS edition show that there are good recruitment opportunities into specialty trainee (ST) and subsequent consultant posts too. I am pleased to see that the numbers of women consultant surgeons and women in training have continued to increase too and I am dedicated to making further tangible improvements to OMFS training during my term of office,” he added.
BAOMS offers support for trainees taking their second degree in the form of Student Bursaries, which are available for Student members of BAOMS. In 2020 BAOMS allocated £37,000 in bursary support – more than at any time before.
Patrick Magennis, BAOMS Chair, added: “This training-focused BJOMS is the first of its kind, a real innovation for which I thank Kaveh and his team. It covers everything, hotspot universities that inspire new OMFS trainees, the changes that have happened since 1995 and the pathway needed to make changes to OMFS training. It even has two papers on the impact of Brexit!”
Incoming BAOMS Chair Peter Brennan said that his favourite paper in this innovative BJOMS issue “is the one showing how BAOMS prevented the loss of shortened dental courses for medical graduates – a key resource for OMFS trainees who started as doctors. It shows what our Association can do by bringing stakeholders together. I hope Austen and I can have similar success in 2021”.
“BJOMS is the ideal platform to support a strengthened and vibrant speciality for the future. Please read our special edition and write to let us know what you think. Together we can make things even better,” Kaveh Shakib said.
For further information and interviews contact: Siân Evans on 020 8674 8921 / 07752 414 433 or BAOMS
Notes to editors
- The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BAOMS) promotes the advancement of education, research and the development of oral and maxillofacial Surgery in Great Britain, and encourages and assists postgraduate education, study and research.
- BAOMS offers Student Bursaries for second degree students, who are Student members of BAOMS. The main bursary amount is up to £2,000. The number of annual awards made varies, but is usually between 10 to 15. Bursary projects are uploaded onto the BAOMS website
- Leaflet: Have you considered a career in maxillofacial surgery?
- Further information on the BAOMS OMFS Junior Trainees Programme is available by emailing BAOMS and on the JTG of BAOMS Facebook group.
- Trainees can register their interest in OMFS
- Online membership forms for BAOMS
- Information about NHS bursaries
- The British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (BJOMS) is a leading journal for the specialty. It publishes key articles on all aspects of surgery in the oro-facial and head and neck region, and is dedicated to enhancing surgical expertise. It has one of the largest circulations of any international journal in this field.
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