Sir, I write in response to the article by Kay and O'Brien (BDJ 2006; 200: 73–74) on academic dentistry. As a young clinician wishing to pursue a career in academic restorative dentistry I was encouraged by their enthusiastic advertisement of an academic career.

In response to their title question 'where is everybody?' I believe the answer lies partly in the 'hurdles' mentioned in the article. I would like to highlight these hurdles further.

A young clinician will usually first complete Vocational Training, and then be required to undertake Senior House Office (SHO) posts in order to sit the MFDS exam. The SHO posts (which are themselves very competitive) will be expected to cover a variety of disciplines, usually at least oral and maxillofacial surgery and the clinician's chosen specialty. Upon completing the necessary SHO posts and MFDS the clinician is then required to undertake a PhD and gain a National Training Number (NTN) leading to a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST). During this time, the pressure to produce high quality publications and attract research grants, not to mention teaching commitments, is a further strain on the clinician's time. Even after completing all of the above, the clinician may still have to wait a number of years before being eligible for a senior lecturer position.

I am sure you may appreciate that from my perspective the above 'hurdles' sometimes look more like mountains! However, having undertaken the necessary SHO posts, MFDS and with publications underway, I am not deterred. I am currently considering self-funding a PhD in order to make myself eligible for a lecturer position and NTN. This does however mean that I am going to be at least in my mid-thirties before completing all of the above – and I have focussed my career towards this goal since qualifying, which I presume is relatively rare. Senior lectureship is still a distant goal, far away on the horizon. I wonder how many of my colleagues are understandably put off by the above hurdles, especially given that any clinician with the above experience would be able to pursue a career in private practice or as an NHS consultant much sooner and with more immediate financial gain.

Until more dedicated career pathways are created which allow time for completion of a PhD and CCST, and are given to candidates who are dedicated to academia, I fear the problems of recruiting new academics will not only persist, but may even worsen.