Professionals

Careers in academic paediatric dentistry

Becoming an academic paediatric dentist

An academic career is challenging yet ultimately rewarding. There are different routes, you can be a teacher, a researcher or a mix of both. We’ve signposted some resources here if you are interested, but we would advise you talk to someone before you make any big decisions.

We’ve also added some short videos from academic paediatric dentists at different stages of their journey, hopefully this will shed some light on the process.

Where to start?

Talk to people in academic posts. If you can, talk to people you admire or aspire to be. The academic route can be complicated to understand.

Use available resources from local or national organisations to help guide your career.  For example, the British Dental Association provides guidance on this matter.

Try to get some insight into the different aspects of an academic job.  You might  look at the British Society for Oral and Dental Research's website, the website of the Association for Dental Education in Europe or the Teachers Branch of BSPD.

Finally, you need to have a grasp of the steps required to become an academic and where the exit points are. This is organised by the NIHR and further information of the training pathway can be found here.

CONNECT

Child Oral health NatioNal rEsearch CollaboraTive (CONNECT) is the first UK trainee-led dental research collaborative. The aim of CONNECT is to conduct high quality, trainee-led, multi-centre research in the field of child oral health for the benefit of patients and families.

For further information on becoming a member, please visit CONNECT's website or follow CONNECT on twitter (@ConnectTrainees)

Academic Training: The view from inside

What’s it really like? We asked three dentists at different stages of the journey to give us an insight into their roles and what advice they would give to those interested in this pathway.

Dr Laura Gartshore is a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at the University of Liverpool, and has a particular interest in education and educational research. (Link to Laura’s video)


Dr Helen Rogers is a Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Post-CCST Registrar in Paediatric Dentistry at Newcastle University, and her research interests are in oral health economics.

Having already obtained his PhD, Dr Nabih Alkhouri is undertaking post-doctoral research whilst embarking on his pre-specialist training as an Academic Dental Core Trainee at the Eastman Dental Hospital in London.

We would like to thank Greig Taylor from CONNECT and Abs Casaus for their help in the production of these videos.