Introduction
Development of the Curriculum
Initial discussion has taken place at the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) in Restorative Dentistry and within the Speciality about the need to develop the curriculum published previously in draft form in 2003, basing it now on the standards of good practice laid down by PMETB (now the GMC) for medical postgraduate training. This has been underpinned by recent guidance from the General Dental Council (GDC) and its Specialist Dental Education Board (SDEB), who have adapted the PMETB curriculum standards to dental specialty training. A lack of central direction on curriculum until recently has stalled progress with this initiative, which did however set the basic template for the discipline's curriculum. Recent emphasis on an outcome based curriculum with appropriate competency assessment has allowed further work to be undertaken.
The areas for training assessment within Restorative Dentistry require to be developed further, with those available at present being based on locally produced competency assessments from Specialist Training Committees of the various Deaneries who have worked independently to develop various aspects of competency assessment based on the previous draft curriculum. After formal adoption of the new curriculum all new trainees will be required to complete their training within the new curriculum framework.
This curriculum has been developed by a working party from the SAC in Restorative Dentistry, chaired by Mr Stewart Barclay (curriculum lead for the SAC) and including Mr Paul King (SAC chair 2004-2007), Prof A W G Walls (SAC chair 2007-2010), Mr Raj Joshi (consultant trainer), Mr Suresh Nayar (trainee representative). It has been discussed at the SAC, and has been sent for consultation to the relevant professional societies (the British Endodontic Society, the British Societies for Periodontology, Restorative Dentistry and the Study of Prosthetic Dentistry), the Association of Consultants and Specialists in Restorative Dentistry and the Specialist Registrars Group in Restorative Dentistry. This consultation process has therefore involved individuals with expertise in curriculum development, Consultant and Specialist Trainers and trainees. The final version of the curriculum was also reviewed by the Joint Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry.