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Flexibility and access to dental postgraduate speciality training

British Dental Journal volume 235, pages 211–214 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Increasingly, there is a clear emphasis on the need for improved access to flexible training. This reflects changing societal attitudes and expectations towards work-life balance and increasing demand for flexible working. The recently published Advancing dental care review: final report (2021) reflects these same demands within dental postgraduate training. Increasing flexible training options has the potential for far-reaching beneficial effects for dental speciality training. There are barriers to accessing speciality training for specific applicant groups and this risks potentially excluding excellent-quality candidates from pursuing speciality training. There is opportunity in utilising and developing flexible training options to support widening access to dental speciality training. Recruitment and working pattern arrangements should reflect these aspirations, ensuring that the best trainees are successful irrespective of their personal circumstances.

Key points

  • Discusses the increasing need for flexibility within dental speciality training in England.

  • Highlights the existence of barriers to undertaking dental speciality training.

  • Considers solutions for developing and supporting additional flexible training options which may mitigate some of these barriers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Academic Clinical Fellow in Special Care Dentistry, University of Sheffield, UK

    Jessie E. Tebbutt

  2. Postgraduate Dental Dean, HEE Yorkshire and the Humber, UK

    R. James Spencer

  3. Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, Leeds Dental Institute, UK; Associate Postgraduate Dental Dean for Speciality Training, HEE Yorkshire and the Humber, UK

    Richard Balmer

Authors
  1. Jessie E. Tebbutt
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  2. R. James Spencer
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  3. Richard Balmer
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Contributions

Jessie Tebbutt, Richard James Spencer and Richard Balmer contributed equally to the content development and write up of this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessie E. Tebbutt.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that the second and last author are currently affiliated with Health Education England, in the respective roles of Postgraduate Dental Dean for Yorkshire and the Humber, and Associate Dental Dean for Speciality Training in Yorkshire and the Humber.

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Cite this article

Tebbutt, J., Spencer, R. & Balmer, R. Flexibility and access to dental postgraduate speciality training. Br Dent J 235, 211–214 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-6079-z

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