Oral Medicine Curriculum

Introduction

Oral medicine is the specialty of dentistry concerned with the care of children and adults for the diagnosis and management of a variety of conditions which include chronic, recurrent and medically related disorders of the mouth, face and jaws. Oral medicine is the specialty which interfaces between medicine and dentistry. In addition to having postgraduate dental training, oral medicine specialists have enhanced training in the medical aspects of oral disease, particularly where they relate to the oral manifestations of underlying systemic disease. Oral medicine specialists treat both common and rare diseases that appear in the mouth, accept patient referrals from dentists, GPs, surgical, medical and dental specialties, and are frequently involved in the multi-disciplinary care of such patients. Oral medicine specialists are involved in the multi-disciplinary care of diseases that appear in the mouth and often provide expertise that is not available from other healthcare providers. Oral medicine specialists advance patient care through research and the delivery of education and assessment in undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental training.

The oral medicine specialty curriculum sets out the specialist knowledge, skills, and capabilities for the attainment of the award of the Certificate of Completion of Specialty Training (CCST). Successful candidates will be eligible to apply for inclusion on the GDC specialist list for oral medicine and be eligible to use the title of “Specialist”.

The purpose of the oral medicine specialty training curriculum is to allow robust assessment of trainees against a series of competencies and capabilities that will ensure their ability to provide high quality patient care tailored to the needs of the population. Oral medicine specialty training is typically 5 years in duration. Oral medicine specialty training involves a range of activities such as, assessing and treating patients in outpatient and inpatient settings, teaching and research. Following successful completion of oral medicine specialty training, trainees will be invited to apply for the GDC specialist list for oral medicine and be eligible to be appointed as NHS Consultants in oral medicine.