Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Eur J Dent 2020; 14(S 01): S44-S49
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1719216
Original Article

Redeployment of Dental Core Trainees in the United Kingdom due to Coronavirus Disease 2019

Misha Patel
1   Oral Surgery Department, Floor 23, Guys Hospital, Oral Surgery, Great Maze Pond, London, United Kingdom
,
Payvand Menhadji
1   Oral Surgery Department, Floor 23, Guys Hospital, Oral Surgery, Great Maze Pond, London, United Kingdom
,
Serena Mayor
1   Oral Surgery Department, Floor 23, Guys Hospital, Oral Surgery, Great Maze Pond, London, United Kingdom
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
Also available at
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Objective The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected professionals in all fields; none more so than medical and dental professionals. As dental core trainees (DCT) working in hospitals, we have been at the forefront of the crisis and one of the first in line for redeployment. Therefore, we decided to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the redeployment of DCTs across the UK.

Materials and Methods  Data for this study was collected and shared between three project researchers. All researchers were undergoing dental core training in Oral Surgery and Restorative dentistry at Guy’s Hospital, London. An online survey was sent out via email and online social media platforms to reach as many DCTs as possible in the United Kingdom. Implied consent was obtained by respondents on submission of the survey.

The survey consisted of five sections and was branched, with respondents answering different sections depending on their redeployment status. No qualitative data was collected, as all questions included in the survey were dichotomous or multiple-choice questions. The last two questions were in the form of a 5-point Likert scale, inviting respondents to rate five statements from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

Results A total of 150 participants responded, of which 34% had been redeployed due to the pandemic. The majority of DCTs were redeployed to an intensive care unit or similar setting, and over 75% of those redeployed were working with either COVID-19 positive/suspect patients. Additionally, 23.8% of respondents had stopped patient contact due to their medical status.

Conclusion Many DCTs have been deployed to departments outside of their specialty and expressed some anxiety as a result. Inevitably, this has resulted in disruption to their training program and education over the last few months. The response across the United Kingdom has been understandably variable due to the differing demands of the hospital trusts within which the DCTs work.

Keywords

COVID-19 - dental education - personal protective equipment - redeployment


Publication History

Article published online:
15 December 2020

© 2020. European Journal of Dentistry. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Quinn B, Field J, Gorter R. et al. COVID-19: The immediate response of european academic dental institutions and future implications for dental education. Eur J Dent Educ 2020; 24 (04) 811-814
    CrossrefSearch in Google Scholar
  • 2 COPDEND. (2016) UK dental core training curriculum. Available at: https://www.copdend.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2016-12-14-UK-DCT-CurriculumDecember-2016.pdf. Accessed June 14, 2020
  • 3 Thomson A, Chohan P, Ismail MJ, Khalid S, Patel N, Uppal S. Out of our comfort zone. Br Dent J 2020; 228 (08) 568
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 4 Peng X, Xu X, Li Y, Cheng L, Zhou X, Ren B. Transmission routes of 2019-nCoV and controls in dental practice. Int J Oral Sci 2020; 12 (01) 9
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 5 Ather A, Patel B, Ruparel NB, Diogenes A, Hargreaves KM. Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19): implications for clinical dental care. J Endod 2020; 46 (05) 584-595
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 6 General Dental Council. Responding to COVID-19: providing treatment in an uncertain time. 2020. Available at: https://www.gdc-uk.org/news-blogs/blog/detail/blogs/2020/03/26/responding-to-covid-19-providing-treatment-in-uncertain-times. Accessed May 2020
  • 7 Coronavirus Act. 2020. 2020. UK public general acts. c7 s 11. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/section/11/enacted. Accessed May 2020
  • 8 NHS England. Redeploying the clinical dental workforce to support the NHS clinical delivery plan for COVID-19. 2020. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/site s/52/2020/04/C0301-Permissions-Redeploying-our-people-clinical-dental-workforce-v2.pdf. Accessed May 2020
  • 9 Fernando S. 2020. Redeployment to the intensive care unit. COVID-19: views from the NHS frontline. RCS (Eng). Available at: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/blog/redeployment-to-the-intensive-care-unit/. Accessed June 2020
  • 10 Health Education England. Supporting the COVID-19 response: guidance regarding medical education and training. Available at: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/coronavirus-information-trainees. Accessed May 2020
  • 11 Coulthard P. Dentistry and coronavirus (COVID-19) - moral decision-making. Br Dent J 2020; 228 (07) 503-505
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 12 The New York Times. (New York). The workers who face the greatest coronavirus risk. 2020. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/15/business/economy/coronavirus-worker-risk.html?searchResultPosition=3. Accessed May 2020
  • 13 Ahmed MA, Jouhar R, Ahmed N. et al. Fear and practice modifications among dentists to combat novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020; 17 (08) 2821
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 14 Coulthard P. The oral surgery response to coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Keep calm and carry on?. Oral Surg 2020;13(2):95-97 doi:10.1111/ors.12489
  • 15 FAQ for dental core trainees during the current COVID-19 situation. Available at: https://bda.org/advice/Coronavirus/Documents/faqs_dental_core_trainees_covid-19.pdf. Accessed March 30, 2020