Senior House Officers (SHOs)

Following on from "Modernising Medical Careers" it is well known that progress is being made by the Department of Health towards the establishment of "establishment of foundation training in dentistry".

The final details are yet to be announced, although the competences to be achieved by the trainee have been published, but it is clear that it is the Department of Health's intention to move towards a system whereby Dental Graduates will undergo two years of general professional training which will be called Foundation Years to mirror our medical colleagues. The first year being as now the vocational training year and likely to be referred to as Dental Foundation 1 (DF1) and this to be followed by a DF2 year in an appropriate setting for the second year dental graduate to achieve the skills required to be regarded as having completed their foundation training.

The setting for the second year is likely to include our current SHO positions, some community training positions and perhaps some recognized training posts in the Forces, and in a general practice setting.

There are many challenges not the least of which is that with only one exception the current SHO posts in Kent, Surrey and Sussex are in the specialty of Maxillofacial Surgery which is now a medical specialty and although excellent experience can be gained in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery it is unlikely that all Maxillofacial Surgery units will be able to provide all the required skills which the dental graduate requires.

It seems sensible to prepare as early as possible for this change to a two year foundation programme and among other preparatory moves KSS in association with the London Deanery are moving towards the centralization of the recruitment and appointment process for Dental SHO's. This will involve a central advertisement for SHO positions which will become available in August and February each year for both London and KSS Deaneries, a central short listing process and a central interviewing and appointments process with of course significant input from each of the Trusts' where the SHO’s will be placed.

In addition to assist in the transition from VDP to Hospital SHO the Deanery is running a two day "surgical skills course" (sometimes referred to as Dentist on the Ward) this will be run in July 2007 and hopefully in subsequent years at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital under the Maxillofacial Surgery Department.

For further information please email lcaple@kssdeanery.ac.uk.