Dentistry continues to evolve, treatment options improve as do care outcomes, and our patients expect more from the treatments we provide. Key to patient expectations are credibility and credentials and for many years, General Dental Practitioners have invested in their career journey through self-directed learning and more formal courses. This is of course to be encouraged as learning should never cease, credibility or reputation is often transmitted by word of mouth, and patients often know that dentists are highly skilled but increasingly, patients seek evidence of enhanced learning. Thus credibility needs to be backed up by credentials. This is where the RCSEd Faculty of Dental Surgery leads the way in dentistry, with a new suite of examinations to complement the existing set of examinations we have provided for many years.
Our Dental Diploma Examinations go live in 2025 and will be one of the biggest innovations in summative assessments in a generation. These are the brainchild of our Immediate Past-Dean, Philip Taylor, who himself was a General Dental Practitioner (GDP) in his early career and recognised that there were only a small number of routes for dentists working in the ‘high street’ to demonstrate their prowess in the specialty areas without needing to leave general dental practice to undertake formal specialty training. The overall purpose of these new examinations is to enable GDPs to engage in self-study at their own pace and when they feel adequately equipped, to put themselves forward for these examinations. We already offer the Membership in Advanced General Dental Surgery (MAGDS) where GDPs do not need to have undertaken a specific training programme and can submit themselves for the examination when they see fit. The major difference is that the MAGDS tests across a broad range of subjects in dentistry specifically in practice management while the Dental Diploma Examinations are grounded in each of the specialty disciplines. On passing one or more of the Dental Diploma Examinations, candidates will become an Associate Member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery and part of the historic Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the oldest surgical incorporation in the world.
The first Dental Diploma Examinations to go live in 2025 will be Dental Sedation, Paediatric Dentistry, and the Restorative single specialty examinations; namely Endodontics, Periodontics and Prosthodontics. Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine Diploma Examinations will follow at a later date. Each examination will comprise single best answer and clinical case questions which will be fully digital/ online. The rigorous RCSEd quality assurance standards mean that question writing, blueprinting, standard setting, examiner calibration and psychometrics will continue to be part of the process, and will provide reassurance to our patients that the holder of one of the Dental Diplomas has reached a pivotal point in their career where their commitment has been recognised by one of the world’s most respected awarding bodies.
These diplomas are not intended to replace full specialty training pathways, and successful practitioners will not be able to call themselves specialists but can claim to have been tested in these specific areas to a high standard, so much so the attainment of one of these diplomas may strengthen their application for Tier 2 practice recognition in England and Wales, with similar status in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It goes without saying, as Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, that I am indebted to our question writers, many of whom have put in many long hours both developing questions and also reviewing these in teams. Whilst this work, like all of the volunteer work for RCSEd is pro bono, it is massively appreciated by the College machinery and I hope that it has helped your own continuing professional development through an equal measure of curiosity and discovery. I am also thankful for those who have steered the process, Ian Corbett (Member of Dental Council) for overseeing the Diploma Leads Group and the individual Diploma Leads (David Craig and Nigel Robb, Ulpee Darbar, Michelle Moffat and the team currently working on the Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine examinations) along with several College staff (Jane Wheelhouse, Dental Examinations Manager; Yvonne Hurst, Assistant Director of Professional Activities and the Question Bank / Psychometrics teams) among others, for all the work involved in bringing these new exams to life.
Please keep tuned to the regular media channels for a series of announcements and resources for the Dental Diploma Examinations. We will be hosting a webinar for each of the examinations with the opportunity to ask questions at the end of each of these.
This suite of examinations will eventually be rolled out across the globe, but initially will be focused for the UK market.
As ever, the RCSEd Faculty of Dental Surgery is unique in innovating for General Dental Practitioners and will help guide the dentists of the future through the challenges of a career in primary dental care to become established as dentists with specialist interests.
We look forward to welcoming General Dental Practitioners into the Faculty of Dental Surgery through this new route to membership, and if you would like to get in contact about the Dental Diploma Examinations, please email the Faculty inbox at dental@rcsed.ac.uk.