Austen T Smith, a fiercely proud Yorkshireman originating from Huddersfield, having studied in Cardiff, Wales for both his UG degrees, lives on a smallholding farm in the South Yorkshire Dark Peak with his partner Jayne, 2018 UK Nurse of the Year.

His commitment for the Presidential year is to push for a more sustainable, shorter, fit for purpose & affordable revised overall Training pathway for a career in OMFS. This in line with recommendations and affirmation of the requirements by the PMETB (Rubin) and GMC reviews, aimed at reducing duplication and condensing the necessary acquisition of skills into a UK wide, accessible and consistent route.

He has served as elected Council Member BAOMS and the terms of Office as below which confer Trustee status demanding supervision and safeguarding of the well-being and interests of the Association including its Charitable standing.

Further intentions are to protect the interests of Fellows in Training , the Associate Membership in their key roles in many OMFS Departments, and those junior colleagues early in their career, for whom a real change & improvement in the Training trajectory may make a real difference.

Two other commitments for Presidential Initiatives funded by discretionary funds available to a President will be - an open “Heritage Hall” to recognise & celebrate those colleagues of all levels who die after contributing to the Specialty of OMFS at any level – not simply the pre-eminent, well published - or high position holders. Family, - or colleagues with family permission - will be able to record the contribution, life and achievements of clinicians who gave to the development of OMFS in the UK.

Secondly, given the recent importance of technological communication methods, a video based more frequent “update” on events as an insert to the BAOMS webpage is intended.

Achievements and positions held:

• President BAOMS 2021
• Past Hon Secretary BAOMS 2016-19
• Past Hon Treasurer BAOMS 2013-16
• Elected Member Specialist Advisory Committee [OMFS] JCST 2016-21
• Consultant OMFS Sheffield Hospitals – 23 yrs.
• Consultant OMFS Barnsley Hospital – 23 yrs
• Hon Senior Clinical Lecturer – University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry – 23 yrs
• Current OMFS Rep NHS Digital/ National Case mix Office Clinical Leaders / Expert Working Group “Dental” / Expert Working Group “Head & Neck”
• OMFS SAC Rep, Training Interface Group (Head & Neck Surgical Oncology) with responsibility for Curriculum 2018-21 – Author of new H&N TIG Curriculum in presentation to GMC 2019-2020
• Chair, Training Interface Group (Head & Neck Surgical Oncology) 2021 -24
• Acknowledged contributor, Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT)– OMFS Review 2019
• Past Chair, Lead Clinician, Head & Neck Cancer, N Trent Ca Network – 7 yrs.
• Past Training Programme Director, OMFS – “Trent” rotation – 3yrs.
• National Selector OMFS 10yrs
• Faculty Birmingham Trauma Skills Course - 24yrs
• Trained in 30+ NHS Hospitals across S Wales, Leeds, Gt Manchester and London areas.

Clinical Interests - H&N Oncology, Reconstructive surgery, Laser applications, Microvascular Extracranial to Intracranial neurosurgical revascularisation, Head & Neck Vascular lesions, Management of Oral Dysplasia and its risks. Lectured and presented widely at Regional, UK National, European & International levels.

Teaching including Trauma Skills following acute involvement with major incidents – Docklands Bomb 1996.

Specialty Interests - Teaching & Training in OMFS. Security for and recruitment of next generation surgeons. New areas of surgical activity for OMFS.

Outside interests – farming / forestry, restoring classic tractors, DIY, photography, shooting.

Professor Cyrus Kerawala

BDS (Hons), FDSRCS (Eng), MBBS (Hons), FRCS Ed, FRCS (OMFS)

Consultant Maxillofacial / Head and Neck Surgeon

Cyrus was appointed as a Consultant is 1999 and in 2008 moved to the Royal Marsden Hospital where he is Clinical Lead for the Head and Neck Unit and Medical Examiner.  He conducts an exclusive head and neck oncology practice with a secondary and tertiary referral base and a research emphasis on microvascular reconstruction and trans-oral robotic surgery.  He is a visiting Professor in the Department of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Winchester where his research interests focus on prehabilitation and nutrition in major head and neck surgery.      

Cyrus is author of a textbook on Maxillofacial Surgery and has written numerous chapters in other books.  He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has contributed to the UK National Head and Neck Cancer Multidisciplinary Management Guidelines. He devotes a significant amount of time to teaching, professional training and continuing medical education.  He has presented over 120 papers at international and national meetings, and has been invited to lecture throughout Europe, the Middle East, America, Asia and Australia.    

Cyrus was the Honorary Secretary of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons for six years until December 2012 and is a previous Chair of the Intercollegiate Board in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.  He was the Clinical Lead for the NICE guidelines on head and neck cancer which were published in February 2016 and Chair of the NICE guidelines on oesopho-gastric cancer published in January 2018.

Cyrus was Honorary Treasurer of the British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists for three years before assuming the two-year term of the office of its President in May 2019.

Robert Bentley, BDS, MB BChFDSRCS, FRCS, FRCS (OMFS)

Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial and Craniofacial Surgeon, King’s College Hospital London

Rob was appointed as an Oral and Maxillofacial and Craniofacial Surgeon to King’s College Hospital in 2000. His areas of clinical interest are skull base and craniofacial surgery both congenital and acquired facial deformity and in particular the treatment of complex facial trauma in adults and children. 

He was appointed as Clinical Director of King’s Trauma Centre (KTC) which he set up as a Major Trauma Centre in 2010 and subsequently in 2013 also became the Clinical Director of the South East London Kent and Medway (SELKaM) Major Trauma Network.

He  has been London Clinical Director and an NHSE commissioner for Trauma Rehabilitation in London in 2012-13.

He was a graduate of the “Next Generation Chief Executive programme” at  London Business School 2010-2012 and was Clinical Director of Surgery for King’s 2014-2017.

A committed trainer, he has been Training Programme Director for the South London OMFS programme since 2008 and the Pan London programme since 2012 and was voted BAOMS Trainer's Trainer of the Year in 2016. He has been instrumental in supporting the Post Graduate Medical Dental degree programme at King’s College London. 

He was the chair for AOCMF for the United Kingdom and a former European Board member for AO.

Kanwal gained her dental and medical degrees at Sheffield and Manchester, respectively, before undertaking her specialist training in Oral & Maxillofacial Training on the Liverpool Rotation. Upon completion, Kanwal obtained – and completed - the Training Interface Group (TIG) fellowships in both Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgery and Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery. This latter fellowship set the foundation for her career as a Cleft Surgeon, during which time she trained in the regional cleft centres of Leeds, Newcastle and South Thames, as well as abroad in India. Kanwal is now a Cleft consultant in Cleft.Net.East based in Cambridge where her current practice includes the full range of primary and secondary cleft surgeries. As Clinical Lead of this department she is focussed on nurturing the talent within the multidisciplinary team and forging research links between the department and Cambridge University, particularly in light of the Children’s Hospital being built on site.

In 2017, Kanwal was nominated by her Trust to undergo national selection for an elite one-year NHS Leadership programme known as the Nye Bevan Academy. This programme for Aspirant Executive directors equipped her with many of the management and people-skills required for meeting the challenges of a modern-day NHS. It also cultivated a deep interest in team dynamics, diversity and inclusion which Kanwal continues to develop and research in her own daily management practice. Such skills have enhanced her roles as an examiner for BAOMS and as a founding member for the Society of Women in Maxillofacial Surgery. Kanwal looks forward to combining her clinical experience, her formal training in leadership and management and her passion for trainees’ needs to be considered holistically to best serve the next generation of OMFS surgeons.

Twitter: @KanwalMoar

Professor Peter Brennan is a NHS Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in Portsmouth, specialising in head and neck oncology with a personal chair for his research and education achievements with over 600 publications to date. He is a committed trainer and educator, collaborating across specialties and disciplines. Peter has been Honorary BJOMS Editor (2009-14), BAOMS President in 2016, Chairman of the English College Court of Examiners (2012-14)  and Intercollegiate Committee Chair for MRCS and DOHNS (2014-17) for the four Surgical Colleges. He has recently led a major revision of the MRCS examination. He currently supervises important MRCS predictive validity and differential attainment research for the Colleges and has published widely on the MRCS examination.

He has edited 5 specialty textbooks including the 2 volume Maxillofacial Surgery (3rd Edition), Operative OMFS, and the Oxford Handbook. He is Lead Editor of the new Gray’s Surgical Anatomy textbook which has received widespread acclaim around the world. The title has been so popular that it required reprinting within 2 months of publication – unprecedented for a medical textbook.

Peter is interested in human factors (HF) and patient safety, establishing unique collaborations with airline pilots, National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team (Red Arrows). His work improves practice across surgical and medical specialties and includes reducing hierarchy, enhancing team working and raising awareness of many personal factors to reduce medical error. In 2019, he was awarded a PhD entitled ‘Applying HF to Improve Patient Safety.’

He promotes equality, women in surgery, trainees and SAS grades at every opportunity and was elected in April 2020 to the Royal College of Surgeons of England Council by the general voting route. He is looking forward to serving BAOMS again, supporting the Presidents and facilitating direction and strategy for the specialty over the next few years

I am a consultant in Liverpool and also TPD for the North West OMFS trainees in both the Manchester and Mersey rotations. I am also Associate Dean for Dental Core Trainees in HEENW (having previously been TPD for DF2 in Mersey Deanery) and involved in training for all of my consultant career.

I have been given the Dental Core Training (DCT) portfolio within BAOMS, a role which I will relish. To this end, I will need contributions and help from all levels and grades of members of BAOMS.

For those aiming for or currently in DCT, I would like your help to assemble a key resource on the BAOMS website to help you and those who follow you.

For those involved in the clinical and/or the educational supervision of DCTs I want to build a resource for training and help improve the experience DCTs within OMFS units have, in the knowledge that our DCTs are the consultant colleagues of the future.

Rhea is a dual qualified junior trainee in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery working in London. In her spare time she serves as the Junior Trainees and Member's Representative on BAOMS council.

Rhea studied Dentistry at the University of Sheffield graduating in 2015, after which she completed her dental foundation and OMFS dental core training in Birmingham and London.

Discovering a passion for OMFS during this time, Rhea went on to study graduate entry Medicine at the University of Birmingham. She is currently working as a dual qualified foundation doctor in London and works as an OMFS Clinical Fellow in her spare time

Rhea led the Junior Trainees Group (JTG) of BAOMS as JTG Chair in 2021 and is passionate about supporting fellow junior trainees.

I am currently an ST4 trainee in South Wales and deputy representative for Fellows in Training.

Hesham Emam is a SAS surgeon in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Morriston Hospital, Swansea. He qualified as a dentist from Cairo University in 1998. He came to United Kingdom as an International Medical Graduate in 2001 and has been working in OMFS since 2002. He is a member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a Fellow of the Faculty of Dentistry of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. He has a MSc with distinction in Dental Implantology and a PG Diploma in Medical Education from Cardiff University.

He is an invited member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (FDS) Board, representing SAS dental surgeons, an invited member on the SAS committee of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) and a co-opted member of the SAS Forum of RCSEng. In addition, he is a co-opted member of the Central Committee of Hospital Dental Services (CCHDS) of the BDA and a member of the local negotiating committee of the BMA and a member of the International Team for Implantology (ITI).

Mr Emam is also an Associate Fellow and a Council member of the British Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (BAOMS). His special interests include Oral Surgery, Dental Implantology and Medical Education. He is a named clinical supervisor of the dental core trainees at Morriston hospital and one of the facilitators of Oral Surgery and Conscious Sedation courses for the Welsh Dental Deanery. He is passionate about the education and training of SAS surgeons and has been working towards empowering SAS doctors and dentists, and improving their career prospects since 2014.

Alex started his current appointment as a post-CCT fellow in Head & Neck Surgery with Microvascular Reconstruction at University Hospitals Birmingham in August 2020 and has also worked as a consultant at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board since completing specialty training in the Wales Deanery in the spring of 2020. Prior to this, he undertook his medical degree, foundation & core training, diploma of H&N surgery and dental degree in London.

His subspecialty interests lie in head & neck oncology, major reconstruction, salivary gland disease and facial nerve injury.  He has a complementary clinical research interest in the continuing development of reverse planning and additively manufactured CMF implants for complex reconstructions; currently in the latter stages of his postgraduate research degree. 

He has taken an active role in raising the awareness of the specialty, having authored texts for primary care practitioners, as well as regularly teaching for the Midlands and East Deaneries and authoring texts for grass-roots trainees.

Jennifer has been a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals since 2011.  She has a special interest in head and neck cancer including microvascular reconstruction as well as a passion for dentoalveolar surgery. She trained in the Yorkshire Deanery have completed her medical degree at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and her dental degree at the University of Glasgow. She is a previous member of the BAOMS Clinical Effectiveness Committee and enjoys Clinical Governance and Quality Improvement

She  has an interest in Leadership and Management and is currently completing a secondment within OUH as the Divisional Director for the Neurosciences, Orthopaedics, Trauma, Specialist Surgery, Children’s and Neonatal Division and also holds other roles including Clinical Director of Thames Valley Cancer Alliance,  Women in Surgery forum member at the Royal College of Surgeons and a Council member with the Society of Women in Maxillofacial Surgery. She is in the process of completing an MBA at University of Aberdeen.

Outside of work, Jennifer is a cyclist and is due to compete in two cycling ultra races within 2022.  She recently wrote an articular in the Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons extolling the virtues of cycling in terms of maintaining physical and mental health.

Liz studied Medicine at University College London, intercalating in Neuroscience. She discovered a fervour for OMFS during core surgical training in Plymouth and went on to undertake Dentistry (DPMG) at Kings College London and higher specialist training in Birmingham and the West Midlands. She was appointed as an OMFS Consultant in 2017 working at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals and then Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow. She moved to University Hospitals of Northamptonshire in 2021, with specialist interests in facial deformity, TMJ and skin surgery. Liz is Deputy Lead of the Skin Surgery SSIG of BAOMS.

Liz was both BAOMS JTG Chair and Fellows in Training Representative as a junior and is passionate about education and supporting trainees, as the future of our specialty. She is currently Training Programme Director for Dental Core Training in the East of England and Educational Supervisor supporting trainees on the BAOMS Mentoring and Support Programme (MSP).

In her free time, Liz enjoys world travel and philately.

David J W Keith, Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, Sunderland Royal Infirmary, from 2004 to Present.

Honorary Treasurer and Trustee (from January 2019-2021).

Presently, an Associate Editor of BJOMS, MRCS examiner, and ATLS Instructor.

Recently appointed as Associate Medical Director – Clinical Effectiveness , October 2019 for South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust.

Previously Surgical Tutor, 2007-12; Training Programme Director, 2008 – 15; Clinical Governance Lead, 2005-11; Clinical Director, 2012 to 2018.

Clinical practice focuses on Orthognathic surgery, Post Traumatic Deformity, Sialendoscopy and TMJ.

Divya is an ST5 in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in the South West, having studied medicine in Southampton and dentistry at King's College London.  She has been an active member with the Fellows in Training group since 2019 and is now serving as the FiT rep for 2022.  She is currently undertaking an MSc in healthcare management, leadership and innovation.  She is passionate about the training and education needs of our unique specialty, and dedicated to helping her fellow trainees on a national level.

Vinita Shekar – BDS, MFDSRCS, LLM – Legal Aspects of Medical Practice

Specialty Doctor – OMFS, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee

Past Appointments: Clinical Audit Lead, Investigating Officer for Doctors in Difficulty, Whistle Blowing Advocate

Current Appointments: Clinical Governance Lead OMFS, SAS Educational Advisor NHS Tayside, SAS LNC Rep, Clinical Supervisor for Junior Trainees

Other Interests – Cooking Blog, Photography, Yoga