Sir, following on from the recent controversy of the Browne Review1 and the resultant House of Commons vote to raise the cap on student tuition fees, clinical undergraduate fees will likely rise to £9,000 per year. Dental or medical graduates will almost certainly be leaving university with a minimum tuition debt of £45,000.

Should a dental graduate wish to embark on a career within oral and maxillofacial surgery s/he will need to undertake a further clinical degree in medicine. This usually takes the form of an accelerated three or four year course, however, there are still a number of trainees undertaking a full five year programme.

For those on an accelerated course, the NHS bursary system will pay for all but the first year. However, those on a five year course will carry the full cost of tuition fees themselves.

I feel that the recent changes to higher education funding and student finance will result in a career within OMFS being at best, less attractive and at worst, financially elitist. This, alongside the recent discussions regarding the future of oral surgery2 may result in fewer dental graduates choosing to undertake a degree in medicine in order to specialise in oral and maxillofacial surgery.