The General Dental Council (GDC) is seeking a chair and members to help guide the development of training paths for dentists wanting to become specialists.

The GDC is inviting applications from experienced professionals to sit on its new Specialist Dental Education Board (SDEB) which will have an important role overseeing the reorganisation and running of the GDC’s specialist lists.  These Lists enable patients to identify registered dentists who have undergone approved training and are entitled to call themselves a dental ‘specialist’.

The successful applicants, who will be selected following an interview process, will be appointed for three years with the possibility of reappointment after this for a further three years.

The make up of the board is as follows:

• GDC dental member (Paul Cook)
• GDC lay member (Peter Catchpole)
• Higher education professional
• Recent or current Postgraduate Dental Dean
• Recent or current head or dean of a dental school
• Recent or current member of the Joint Committee of Specialist Training in Dentistry (JCSTD)
• Member of one of the Dental Faculties of the Surgical Royal Colleges

Those applying for membership of the board can also apply for the role of Chair.

GDC President Hew Mathewson commented:

“The General Dental Council’s Specialist Lists enable patients and dental professionals to identify dentists who have specialist training and are entitled to use a specialist title.  We are currently amending the arrangements for the training and listing of dental specialties following the recommendations of the Specialist Lists Review Group and we are looking for individuals with relevant experience in the UK dental field to make a valuable contribution to this work.”

More information on the recruitment process, along with person specifications and details of pay, is available from this website.

Applications must be returned by Wednesday 31 January 2007 using the form provided. Applications can be emailed to emacleod@gdc-uk.org or posted to:

Ewen Macleod
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London W1G 8DQ

Ends

For media enquiries, please contact Rachel Lea on 020 7009 2782.

Notes to Editors

1. The two GDC members were selected by the Council at their meeting on 5 December 2006.

2. Specialists are registered dentists who have met the conditions that allow them to use a specialist title.  To become a specialist a dentist must complete a training programme approved by the GDC.  Such a training programme will lead to the award of a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST).  To be eligible for entry to an approved training programme dentists must have the Member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (MFDS) or an equivalent qualification from overseas.  At the end of the training programme dentists must hold the agreed qualification awarded by one of the Royal Surgical Colleges.

3. The creation of the Specialist Dental Education Board was one of the recommendations from the Specialist Lists Review Group which was set up in January 2004 to review the Council’s arrangements for the training and listing of the dental specialties.  The Review Group’s recommendations were approved by Council in December 2005 and are available on this website.