Abstract
Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) applicants are faced with numerous challenges.
Previous research has demonstrated that financial burden, length of OMFS training,
and impact on personal life are cited as major drawbacks to pursuing the specialty,
with trainees having concerns about the Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons
(MRCS) examinations. The current study aimed to explore second-degree medical students’
concerns about obtaining a specialty training post in OMFS. An online survey was distributed
via social media to second-degree students across the United Kingdom and 106 responses
were received. A lack of publications and lack of involvement in research (54%) as
well as attaining accreditation with the Royal College of Surgeons (27%) were cited
as the primary and secondary concerns in relation to securing a higher training post.
Seventy-five per cent of respondents had no first-author publications, 93% expressed
concerns about passing the MRCS examination, and 73% had more than 40 OMFS procedures
within their logbook. Second-degree medical students reported having ample clinical
and operative experience in OMFS. Their main concerns were about research and MRCS
examinations. To alleviate these concerns, BAOMS could provide educational initiatives
and dedicated mentorship programmes for second-degree students, and could adopt a
collaborative approach with discussion with major postgraduate training stakeholders.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Debt experience and sources of funding in OMFS training: a survey of current and aspirant OMFS trainees.Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2022; 60: 645-649
- Can you afford to become an oral and maxillofacial surgeon?.BMJ. 2016; 352: i163
- Three changes to reduce the loss of dual degree trainees from OMFS national specialty selection in the UK: evidence-based proposals.Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2022; 60: 36-41
- What causes trainees to leave oral and maxillofacial surgery? A questionnaire survey.Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2017; 55: 37-40
- Training in oral and maxillofacial surgery: a medicine-first perspective.Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2020; 58: 1333-1334
- “Run-through” training at specialist training year 1 and uncoupled core surgical training for oral and maxillofacial surgery in the United Kingdom: a snapshot survey.Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2018; 56: 327-331
- Variation in UK deanery publication rates in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: where are the current 'hot spots'?.Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021; 59: e48-e64
- Attitude and experiences of undergraduate dental students and interns towards research.Saudi J Med Medical Sci. 2016; 4: 108-111
- 25-year analysis of a dental undergraduate research training program (BSc Dent) at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Dentistry.J Dent Res. 2008; 87: 1085-1088
- Impact of a research requirement in a dental school curriculum.J Dent Educ. 2014; 78: 1364-1371
- MRCS performance by OMFS trainees: an update and call to action.Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2022; 60: 655-657
- Which factors predict success in the mandatory UK postgraduate surgical exam: The Intercollegiate Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS)?.Surgeon. 2018; 16: 220-226
- Maxillofacial training is no longer than other surgical specialties.Ann R College Surg Engl. 2008; 90: 146-149
- Vascular surgery trainee retention in the UK: how many leave and why? A survey of trainee and Training Programme Directors’ perceptions.BMC Med Educ. 2021; 21: 241
- What do UK doctors in training value in a post? A discrete choice experiment.Med Educ. 2016; 50: 189-202
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 16, 2022
Accepted:
December 10,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
