DT News - UK - Rise in dental fellowships limited to early career stage

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 14 December 2017

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LONDON, UK: Dental fellowships in the UK have increased threefold in the last decade, but only for dentists in the early stages of their career, figures published by the Medical Research Council (MRC) have revealed. From the 75 fellowships reported on in the survey, none of the recipients had a qualification higher than an initial post-doctoral fellowship.

The number of dentists who were supported to establish a career in research further declined from six in 2009 to none in the latest survey.

The results are aligned with data collected from dental schools across the country that shows an increase in vacancies for research-focussed dental posts and difficulty in recruiting. According to the MRC, this could indicate a potential shortage of capacity in the near future.

Overall, academic capacity at professor, reader/senior lecturer and lecturer levels declined by 11.8 per cent between 2010 and 2015, before increasing again by 1.8 per cent, it was stated in the report.

Conducted on behalf of research funders, school councils across the country and the Association of Medical Research Charities, the survey of UK investment in clinical and health research fellowships showed that the number of pre-doctoral fellowship awarded across almost all health professions increased by nearly four times since 2009, highlighting the increased opportunities for clinical academics to gain early career research experience, according to the MRC. However, the data also indicated that the number of clinical academics seeking and securing help to transition to research independence has declined. It further showed that the percentage of female fellows declined steeply with the increasing seniority of an award.

“I’m delighted to see that more early career clinicians than ever before are pursuing interest in academic medicine. The report highlights, however, that more needs to be done to support these colleagues, particularly women, as they transition to independence,” said Chief Executive of the MRC, Prof. Sir John Savill.

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