Extraordinary Letters to the Editor

I read with interest your fervent comments regarding the announcement by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the reply of the Dean of the Dental Faculty to your Editorial in the April issue, regarding the dropping of the case presentations from the MOrth (Edin) examination.

I could not agree more with your comments regarding the reflection necessary from the candidates for the case presentations. This is the only section of the exam that follows the whole continuum of patient care from start to finish, and represents exactly, the practise of the specialist practitioner.

The response by the Dean of the Dental Faculty states that some competencies, including such cases, are best assessed using WPBA. However, the ARCP process does not presently do this. There is no national standardization of assessment, which is carried out internally, usually by the trainee's own trainers. The ISCP process monitors case numbers and case mix, but not necessarily the quality nor the understanding of the treatment carried out. It should also be remembered that MOrth is an international exam and candidates outside the UK do not have these processes in place. Is the College to accept only candidates from UK training programmes in the future?