SAS dentists working in OMFS departments demand access to tri-collegiate oral surgery exams
23 July 2019 (Last updated: 23 Jul 2019 06:34)
Although SAS doctors (medics) who have the support of three referees are allowed access to exams in their specialty, the tri-collegiate oral surgery exams are only accessible to dentists in specialty training posts.
Representatives for Specialist and Specialty (SAS) doctors in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) Parminder Shoker and Vinita Shekar have made another call on dental faculties to allow them to take the Tri-Collegiate Membership (MOral Surg) and Intercollegiate Speciality Fellowship (ISFE) exams to give them the same access to college exams as their dental and medical colleagues in other specialties.
Writing in the July 2019 Faculty Dental Journal they say: “We now, openly and clearly, ask for all dental faculties to support SAS staff in all dental specialities and in OMFS by giving them the same access as our medical colleagues.”
They argue that if the Royal College exams are robust enough to accept knowledge and skills achieved by working over a number of years as an SAS doctor in other medical specialities regulated by GMC, why should oral surgery exams be any different.
Their letter follows lobbying by BAOMS, which had earlier this year made an explicit call on dental deans to make the changes in the light of findings in the Fullarton et al paper. The BAOMS Chair Patrick Magennis told them that without change the steady decline in specialists on the General Dental Council’s (GDC) oral specialist list would continue.
“Access to surgical college exams is extremely important for quality assurance and patient safety. I am extremely disappointed that those running the tri-collegiate exams changed the regulations to block those not in specialty training. Refusing to remove this obstruction is adding insult to injury. Dentists with oral surgery skills and knowledge must be allowed to demonstrate the ‘equivalence’ of their daily work and advance their careers. For those SAS colleagues who would like to apply for mediated entry onto the oral surgery specialist list, passing the tri-collegiate exams would be a useful proof of knowledge.”
Parminder Shoker and Vinita Shekar explain in their letter that hundreds of SAS doctors work in NHS OMFS units: “Unlike SAS doctors in similar medical posts, they have no similar access to the oral surgery specialist list.
“While the GDC is considering the principles of specialist listing, this might be an opportunity to consider opening access to the MOral Surg and ISFE,” they write.
For further information and interviews contact: Siân Evans on 020 8674 8921 / 07752 414433 or BAOMS on 020 7405 8074
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.
- The oral surgery specialist: what will happen as the ‘grandfathers’ disappear? by Marnie Fullarton, Sarah Jadun, Anne Begley and Patrick Magennis is published in the Royal College of Surgeons of England’s April 2019 Faculty Dental Journal
- Royal College of Surgeons of England
- FRCS: Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in the UK and Ireland.
- ISFE (Intercollegiate Specialty Fellowship Exams), which are offered by the four royal surgical colleges (England, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Ireland). On passing the specialty fellowship examination dentists can join their royal college as a Fellow.
- The Diploma of Membership in Oral Surgery (MOral Surg) is a tri-collegiate specialist dental surgery exam, run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. The MOral Surg qualification demonstrates that you have attained the knowledge and understanding relevant to the practice of a specialist in oral surgery.
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