Goals of Specialist Training
By the completion of the 5-year programme, you will have been exposed to all the sub-specialty practices of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and should be capable of undertaking duties of the role of a Consultant.
At CCT, the oral and maxillofacial surgeon will be able to manage patients presenting with:
- Craniomaxillofacial trauma.
- Cancer of the head and neck, in particular oral, oropharyngeal and cutaneous malignancy.
- Facial deformity- both congenital and acquired. This will include the treatment of patients with post-traumatic defects, syndromes of the head and neck and cleft lip and palate.
- Diseases of the salivary glands.
- Temporomandibular joint disease and disorders.
- Manage patients presenting with problems relating to the teeth and their supporting structures (minor oral surgery).
- Facial pain.
- Infection of the head and neck- both acute and chronic, including infection of the fascial spaces of the head and neck.
- Non- surgical problems which may affect the cranio-maxillofacial region
Along side this it is recommended that they show evidence that competence in the management of trauma is being maintained (ATLS Certificate or equivalent from August 2012). That they are familiar with basic reconstructive techniques, including free tissue transfer, as these apply to the head and neck. As well as provide be competent in the management of patients requiring pre-prosthetic surgery including the placement of osseointegrated implants.
With the new curriculum, it has been decided that the higher surgical trainees will need a minimum of ‘six-week’ placement in cleft surgery in their five years of training. The trainees should have a two-week placement in the ST3 year followed by a ‘four-week placement ‘ in cleft surgery closer to the FRCS exam.
How this will be achieved
Each placement will provide you with access to clinics, theatre lists and teaching which will enable you to meet the requirements of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery syllabus and expectations of the Training Programme - if for what ever reason you feel your training needs are not being met then talk to your Academic Educational Supervisor (AES), if this is unsuccessful then talk to your trainee representative to raise the issue on your behalf with the TPD.
All OMFS higher surgical trainees should have the opportunity to attend at least a minimum of four consultant supervised theatre sessions each week.