Education Committee
Working together
The ABAOMS Education Committee group has produced information on undergraduate education. Please see the pages on our work on this website.
Background to the Group
The ABAOMS education committee first convened in 2005 in response to the publication “Profile and Competencies for the European Dentist” (Plasschaert et al 2004). It consists of representatives from every dental school in the UK (15), one postgraduate institute and one Irish dental school.
ABAOMS Education Committee Chair:
Dr Hanya Mahmood is current Chair of the Committee. Dr Mahmood is a Senior Clinical Lecturer & Honorary Consultant Oral Surgeon at the School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield.
Committee Representatives:
Aberdeen – Anand Lalli
Belfast – Joanna Smyth
Birmingham – Yogesh Bulsara
Bristol – Anna Dargue
Cardiff – Charlotte Emanuel, Charlotte Richards
Dundee – Mike Macluskey, Simon Shepherd
Eastman – Rachel Leeson
Edinburgh – Ailsa Morrison
Glasgow – Kurt Naudi
GKT – Nadine Khawaja
Leeds – Helen Clark
Liverpool – Gillian Barker
Manchester -Evgeny Kushnerev, Neil Patel
Newcastle – Rachel Green
Pennisula – James Carey
QMUL – Ed Bailey, Eleni Besi
Sheffield – Hanya Mahmood
UCLan – Kumar Varma Datla, Kate Taylor
Association of Basic Science Teachers in Dentistry (ABSTD) representative – Professor Stephen McHanwell
Former Education Committee Chairs:
Dr Helen Clark (University of Leeds) – 2017 – 2022
Dr Michaelina Macluskey (Dundee Dental School) – chaired the group since it’s inception and through the development of the UK curriculum for undergraduate oral surgery; 2005 – 2017.
Our Work
Current Research
Our current research areas include:
- National undergraduate review of Oral Surgery extractions teaching
- National undergraduate review of LA teaching
- Gold standards and generic SCOT for assessing undergraduate competency in exodontia and surgical exodontia
- National undergraduate survey of confidence in oral surgery
- Oral cancer teaching survey
- Creation of virtual competencies
- Analysis of the current OS UG curriculum
- Never Events in Oral surgery
- Safer surgery in Oral surgery
- Validation of suture and exodontia SCOTs
- Collaborative work with ABSTD on clinical competency
-
Left Handed forceps use in UK Dental Schools
-
Impact of Covid-19 on undergraduate OS education
Publications
From the Committee
Curriculum document developed by the ABAOMS subgroup for teaching: UK National Curriculum for Undergraduate Oral Surgery:
- Macluskey M, Anderson AS, Gribben M, Shepherd SD (2022). An Educational Evaluation of Thiel Cadavers as a Model for Teaching Suturing Skills to Dental Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Dent J (Basel). 4;10(7):125. 35877399; PMCID: PMC9316978
- Anziani H, Durham J and Moore UJ (2008) Exploring the relationship between formative and summative assessment of undergraduates in oral surgery. In Press – Eur J Dent Educ
- Durham J, Moore UJ, Corbett IP, Thomson PJ (2007) Assessing competency in Dentoalveolar surgery: a 3-year study of cumulative experience in the undergraduate curriculum. Eur J Dent Educ, 11, 200-207.
- Evans, AW (2001) Assessing competence in surgical dentistry. Br Dent J, 190, 343-346.
- Evans, AW et al. (2002) Assessment of surgeon competency to remove mandibular third molar teeth. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg, 31, 434-438.
- Hanson C, Mossey P, Macluskey M. The assessment of suturing skills of dental undergraduates. Eur J Dent Educ. 2010 May;14(2):113-7.
- Macluskey, M. et al. (2004) Development of a structured clinical operative test (SCOT) in the assessment of practical ability in the oral surgery undergraduate curriculum. Br Dent J, 196, 225-228.
- Macluskey M, J. Durham, C. Balmer, A. Bell, J. Cowpe, L Dawson, C. Freeman, C. Hanson, A. McDonagh, J. Jones, L. Millsopp, R. Oliver. Dental Student Suturing Skills: A Multicentre trial of a Checklist Based Assessment. Eur J Dent Educ 2011; 15: 1-6.
- Macluskey M, J. Durham, A. Bell, J. Cowpe, St J. Crean, A. Dargue, L. Dawson, C. Freeman, J. Jones, A. McDouagh, S. McHanwell, J. Marley, L. Myrddin, L. Millsopp, R. Oliver, T. Renton, K. Taylor and P. Thomson.
A national survey of UK final year students’ opinion of undergraduate oral surgery teaching. Eur J Dent Educ 16 (2012) e205–e212.
ISSN 1396-5883, doi:10.1111/j.1600-0579.2011.00717.x - Macluskey M, Durham J, Renton, T (2006) Competency based surgery Br Dent J, 201, 415
- Macluskey M and Durham J (2008) Oral Surgery Undergraduate Teaching and Experience in the United Kingdom: A National Survey. Eur J Dent Educ 2009 Feb;13(1):52-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2008.00537.x. PMID:19196294
- Macluskey M and C Hanson. The retention of suturing skills in dental undergraduates. Eur J Dent Educ 2011 ; 15: 42-46.
- Moore UJ, Durham J, Corbett IP, Thomson PJ (2008) The influence of staffing and timetabling on achieving competence in surgical extractions. In Press – Eur J Dent Educ
- Macluskey M, Shepherd S, Carter E, Bulsara Y, Durham JA, Bell A, Dargue A, Emanuel C, Freeman C, Jones J, Khawaja N, Leeson R, Marley J, Andiappan M, Millsopp L, Nayyer N, Renton T, Taylor K, Thomson P, Toedtling V. A national follow-up survey of UK graduates opinion of undergraduate oral surgery teaching Eur J Dent Educ. 2016 Aug;20(3):174-9. doi: 10.1111/eje.12158.
- Hanson C, Wilkinson T and Macluskey M. Do dental undergraduates think that Thiel-embalmed Cadavers are a more realistic model for teaching exodontia? Eur J Dent Educ in press
Prizes & Bursaries
FDS RCSEng – ABAOMS Bursary
The FDS RCSEng-ABAOMS small grant will be for up to £10,000 and is intended to support research in Oral Surgery. The bursary seeks entries from researchers and clinicians who are not yet established and have not completed either a PhD and/or clinical training. Applicants must be members of ABAOMS. On completion of their research project, successful applicants will be expected to present their research at a ABAOMS conference. The applications will be through the the RCSEng – Faculty Dental Surgery.
ABAOMS Conference best presentation
Winner of the best research/clinical oral presentation at the annual conference by a trainee:
Hanya Mahmood (2022)
James Allison (2021)
The ABAOMS Robinson poster prize
Winner of the best research/clinical poster presentation at the annual conference by a trainee:
Emma Robinson (2022)
Hanya Mahmood (2021)
ABAOMS Research Grant/fellowships
Hanya Mahmood: Single cell sequencing and spatial biomarker analysis in oral epithelial dysplasia (2023)
Neha Shah: Development of a higher fidelity model for suturing simulation (2017)
Mark Gormley: An observational study of risk factors for head and neck cancer in UK Biobank (2017)
ABAOMS ESSAY PRIZES
2024 essay prizes were awarded to:
Oliver Cunningham: UG essay ‘What is the evidence for the role of antibiotics in Oral Surgery?’
Helena Papworth: DCT essay ‘What impact may Artificial Intelligence have in Oral Surgery in the next five years?’
The ABAOMS Undergraduate Essay Prize
ABAOMS supports a undergraduate prize in each dental school in the fourth year of study (penultimate year of their degree). The prize is given for the student submitting an essay on the topic decided annually by the ABAOMS education committee. The winning entry from each school goes forward to the national competition and the winner of the national competition receives £100 in addition to free registration to the annual ABAOMS conference to present their essay as a poster and will also have the opportunity to publish their essay in Dental Update.
The 2024 essay title is: ‘What is the evidence for the role of antibiotics in Oral Surgery?’
Congratulations to Oliver Cunningham from QMUL for winning this essay competition
The ABAOMS Dental Core Training essay prize
ABAOMS have launched a new Dental Core Training prize which involves submission of an essay on a topic decided annually by the ABAOMS committee. The applicant can be at any level of training but must be a member of ABAOMS. The winning entry will receive £100 and have the opportunity to present their essay as a poster at upcoming annual ABAOMS conference. Additionally, there is opportunity to publish the winning entry in the Oral Surgery journal.
2024 essay title: “What impact may Artificial Intelligence have in Oral Surgery in the next five years?”
Congratulations to Helena Papworth for winning this essay competition
2022
Awarded for an essay entitled: “Are ID blocks still necessary in Oral Surgery?”
- Samuel Peel (UCLAN) *Overall winner
- Natasha Master (Liverpool)
- Jonathan Quigley (Plymouth)
- Daniel O Shea (Manchester)
- Carina Lim (QMUL)
- Matthew Jansen (Birmingham)
- Elaine Haemin Martí I Peiró (Sheffield)
- Liam Fletcher (Bristol)
2021
Awarded for an essay entitled: “Prevention is better than cure – should all partially erupted impacted lower third molars be removed?”
- Taha Alibhai (Bristol) *Overall winner
- Todd Smyth (Belfast)
- Kathryn Russell (Birmingham)
- Yasmin Aziz (Cardiff)
- Carmen Ng Jia Wen (Glasgow)
- Francesca Rodrigues (KCL)
- Sabba Hassanein (Leeds)
- Corolus Salama (Liverpool)
- Reuben Arnold (Manchester)
- Weroniks Nasterska (Peninsula)
- Yit Shern Ho (QMUL)
- Sheffield- Jaina Sonecha (Sheffield)
- Charlotte Craggs (UCLAN)
2020
Awarded for an essay entitled: “What is the impact of human factors in Oral Surgery?”
- Kelvin Onyinah (Aberdeen)
- Ka Hey Christy Chan (Belfast)
- Safwan Kabeer (Birmingham)
- Emily Black (Bristol)
- Harry Brebner (Cardiff)
- Laura Tan (Dundee)
- Rory Maciver (Glasgow)
- Yi Bomi (KCL)
- Eve Cain (Leeds)
- Simran Amin (Liverpool)
- Nikita Dzyuba (Manchester)
- Leanne Myatt (Newcastle)
- Ahmed Ahmed (Peninsula)
- Rishi Sanger (QMUL)* overall winner
- Beth O’Brien (Sheffield)
- Felicity Charlotte Claire Miller (UCLAN)
2019
Awarded for an essay entitled: “Is blocking with Articaine better than Lidocaine?”
- Menna Shykhon (Birmingham)
- Catherine Roberts (Cardiff)
- Jennifer Rawes (Leeds)
- Ji-Yun Stephanie Yeung (QMUL)
- Manraj Rai (KCL)
- Karrar Al-Zubaidy (Peninsula)
- Emily McIlvanna (QU Belfast)
- Asha Pandya Sharpe (Bristol)
- Neelam Khan (Manchester)
- Katie Ruax (Sheffield)
- Tom Cavell (Newcastle)* overall winner
2018
Awarded for an essay entitled: “Are CBCT’s defensive practise with regards to mandibular third molar surgery?”
- Zamzam Abdullah(Manchester)
- Claire Dewshi(King’s College London)
- James Douglas (Liverpool)
- Jason He (Cardiff)
- Yui Yin Ko (Leeds) * overall winner
- Hannah Lawler (Glasgow)
- Hinali Patel (Birmingham)
- Rachel Sommerville (Sheffield)
2017
Awarded for an essay entitled “Should Wrong Site Extraction Be Classified As A ‘Never Event’?”
- Christina Tran (Bristol)
- Madeleine Ball (Manchester)
- Amy Aziz (Sheffield)*, national winner
- Marie Daniel (Liverpool)
- Ibrahim Matadar (Glasgow)
- Sophia Ibrahim (Birmingham)
- Victoria Soraya Sampson(QMUL)
- Sha-yam Karia (Cardiff)
* The national winner was determined by a small panel from the education group . Amy Aziz (Sheffield) was selected attended the conference in Liverpool November 2017
Clinical Training
Oral Surgery Curriculum
The oral surgery training curriculum can be found on the GDC website.
The Specialist Advisory Committee
Specialist Advisory Committees (SACs) are intercollegiate bodies which advise on higher specialist training in the dental specialties.The Oral Surgery SAC is chaired by Colette Balmer and meets biannually. ABAOMS has representation at the SAC. The SAC is currently reviewing curriculum for extended competencies, which describes opportunities to develop further in preparation for the Intercollegiate Specialty Fellowship Examination (ISFE) and eligibility for consultant appointment.
The membership in oral surgery examination (MOS)
The Diploma of Membership in Oral Surgery (MOral Surg) is a tri-collegiate specialist dental surgery exam (England/Edinburgh/Glasgow). The MOral Surg qualification demonstrates that you have attained the knowledge and understanding relevant to the practice of a specialist in oral surgery. Details can be found at the Royal College of Surgeons website.
The intercollegiate Specialty Fellowship Examination (ISFE)
Award of the Diploma of Fellowship in a specific specialty indicates that a candidate has attained the knowledge and experience, as well as satisfied the necessary training programme requirements, to proceed to independent practice as a consultant within their specialty. Details can be found on the Royal College of Surgeons website.
Clinical academic training
National recruitment (“benchmarking”) and clinical training are well described in the Dental Gold Guide available on the COPDEND website as is the nationally agreed person specification for entry to specialist training. One of the largest funders of clinical academic training is the National Institute for Health Research and their website contains the supplementary details on the person specification for entry to academic training. Further explanations will be available from the Advancing Dental Careers project commissioned by Health Education England when it publishes its part 2 report.
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How can we help?
If you would like to contact us about anything to do with ABAOMS, please get in touch with the Secretary of the association:
Get in Contact
Email: secretary@abaoms.org