How do current Senior Registrar job profiles relate to proposed Specialist Registrar FTTA posts? Fixed-term training appointments.
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The proposed United Kingdom training pathway for Orthodontic Specialist Registrars is now accepted to be of 3 years duration. In the final year, Specialist Registrars will take the Membership in Orthodontics, with the end point of training marked by the award of the Certificate of Completion on Specialist Training (CCST). There will be a predetermined number of fixed-term training appointments (FTTAs), available through competitive entry, which will provide 2 years of additional training and lead to eligibility to apply for a Consultant appointment. The end point of the Specialist Registrar (FTTA) will be marked by the Intercollegiate Specialty Examination (ISE). The current 3-year Senior Registrar orthodontic training will be reduced to 2 years as the transition to the Specialist Registrar FTTA grade occurs. In the light of these changes, a survey of full time NHS Senior Registrar posts was carried out to examine current job profiles with particular reference to their suitability for assimilation into the Specialist Registrar (FTTA) grade and preparation for the ISE. (+info)
Patients' expectations for oral health care in the 21st century.
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BACKGROUND: This article examines trends in patient demographics and dental disease patterns. Data suggest the patient expectations about oral health are increasing, as is their knowledge of oral health services. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Changing patient demographics and technological advances will lead to higher patient expectations and greater demands for oral health care in the 21st century than they had been during most of the 20th century. (+info)
Rationalizing the dental curriculum in light of current disease prevalence and patient demand for treatment: form vs. content.
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The premise of this paper is that the form and content of dental education do not reinforce each other. What results is suboptimal learning; dissatisfied students; difficulty generating excitement among the brightest to consider careers in dental education; erosion of dentists' self-identity as men and women of science; and doubts over whether dental schools can continue as the primary providers of oral health education. A need for reform exists because dental curricula must be responsive to changes in current and projected disease demographics, to advances in science and technology, and to a changing societal culture affecting patient demand for treatment. Today's dilemma is that dental schools need to continue to graduate competent practitioners to meet present clinical needs while also preparing students for a radically different kind of practice in the future. Possible approaches to resolve this dilemma include: a shift between what constitutes general practice and what constitutes specialty practice; and, the implementation of an asynchronous-distributed model of dental education. Such changes will likely be independently accompanied by changes in the role of universities in society in general that could make feasible many, now-unthinkable, alternative vehicles for providing dental education. (+info)
Factors considered by new faculty in their decision to choose careers in academic dentistry.
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To determine the characteristics of new dental faculty and what factors influenced them to choose academic careers, a survey was sent to deans at all U.S. dental schools to be distributed to faculty with length of service of four years or less. Responses were received from 240 individuals. About half of the respondents had been in private practice for an average of eight years, and 20 percent had military experience averaging almost sixteen years. A majority had postgraduate training and 60 percent had specialty training. Nearly 32 percent of new faculty were female and 80 percent were U.S. citizens. Analyses of responses to survey items indicated that correlated factors in the survey fell into the following empirical categories: teaching and scholarship, income and indebtedness, research, work schedule, influence of mentors and role models, and long-term aspirations. In general, the respondents identified factors relating to teaching and scholarship to be the most important influences on their choice of academic careers, while concerns about income and indebtedness were the most important negative considerations in this regard. Other positive factors identified by the survey related to the influence of mentors and role models, long-term aspirations, and research. Age, private practice experience, and military experience were found to particularly influence the new faculty members' responses to items concerning income and indebtedness, and citizenship influenced responses to factors relating to research. The data from this select group of dentists support the current view that inequities in income of dental faculty compared to private practitioners and student debt are important concerns in choosing academic careers. Importantly, the desire to teach and participate in scholarly activities are important attractions in academic careers. Mentoring activities and creation of opportunities for career development are crucial factors in developing interest in academics among graduate dentists. (+info)
ADEA annual survey of clinic fees and revenue: 1998-1999 academic year.
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The American Dental Education Association's 1998-1999 Survey of Clinic Fees and Revenue obtained data by which to report, by school, clinic revenue information per undergraduate student. Fifty of the fifty-five U.S. dental schools responded to the survey. The median revenue per third-year student was $6,313. It was $11,680 for fourth-year students. Clinic revenue data was also obtained by type of postdoctoral program. The postdoctoral general dentistry programs had the highest per student clinic revenues, at over $59,000 per AEGD student and almost $35,000 per student of GPR programs. Other areas of the survey provided information regarding clinic fees by type of program, levels of uncompensated care by type of program, clinic revenue by source of payment, and dental school fees as a percent of usual and customary private practice fees. (+info)
Expectations and perceptions of Greek patients regarding the quality of dental health care.
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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions and expectations of patients regarding the quality of dental health care they received and the criteria they used to select a dentist. DESIGN: Descriptive study. METHODS: Two questionnaires referring to the expectations and the perceptions of dental health care were handed to patients. Likert-type scales were used to evaluate the characteristics examined. These characteristics have been classified in four quality dimensions: 'assurance', 'empathy', 'reliability' and 'responsiveness'. STUDY PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Two hundred consecutive patients who visited the Dental Clinic of the School of Dentistry, University of Athens, Greece, in 1998-1999. RESULTS: The patients' top priority was adherence to the rules of antisepsis and sterilization. Women of the middle and lower socio-economic groups were more demanding than men of the same groups, while men of the upper socio-economic group appeared to be more demanding than women (P = 0.02). Their perceptions of the dental service provided reflected their satisfaction regarding the adherence to the rules of antisepsis and sterilization, but also showed their moderate satisfaction regarding most of the other characteristics and their dissatisfaction regarding information on oral health and hygiene. CONCLUSION: Expectations and demands regarding empathy (approach to the patient) and assurance were placed at the top of the patients' priorities. A highly significant quality gap was observed between the desires of the patients and their perceptions (P< 0.01) and the largest gap was noted concerning information they received about oral health diseases. The largest quality gap was also observed in characteristics regarding responsiveness. (+info)
Primary and secondary dental care: the nature of the interface.
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Specialist dental services are scarce resources and are often oversubscribed. A key element is how these services relate to their referral base, in other words the interface between primary and secondary dental care. Dentistry has several unique qualities when compared with medicine and the nature of the interface between primary and secondary dental care is consequently very different to the medical interface, whilst apparently sharing common features. This paper examines the nature of that interface, the drivers for patient flow between services and outlines the properties of an ideal interface. This model can then be used as a way of describing some of the problems facing specialist dental services and of assessing any proposed solutions. (+info)
Primary and secondary dental care: how ideal is the interface?
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In our previous paper in this journal, we described an ideal interface between primary and secondary dental care in terms of equity, seamless care and efficiency and effectiveness. This paper examines the published evidence describing considerable ongoing problems with the interface under these headings and the ways in which those problems might be better described, quantified and addressed. (+info)