A CONSULTATION on the registration of internationally qualified dentists and dental care professionals has been launched by the General Dental Council.
The regulator wants to hear views on its proposals for a new framework for the assessment of international qualifications and registration.
Dentists and DCPs who qualify outside the UK currently have to sit the overseas registration examination (ORE) before they can work here. The existing rules around this process are due to expire in March 2024, meaning new ones must be in place before then.
The GDC said its proposed new framework will be “broadly similar” to existing rules.
One of the key areas set to change will be the way dentists pay for the ORE. In addition to a fee to sit the exam, the regulator plans to introduce an additional charge to cover the cost of assessing applications. The GDC said it hopes this move will increase assessment capacity.
The regulator is also considering the need for a practical assessment for DCPs.
Registration data for 2022 shows that more than a quarter of dentists practising in the UK qualified abroad (13,000), alongside just over 2,700 DCPs (3.5 per cent). Dentists who are internationally qualified represented 46 per cent of all additions to the register in 2022, and 14 per cent of all DCP additions.
Stefan Czerniawski, GDC Executive Director, Strategy, said: “We are calling for evidence and views on how we can be assured that dental professionals have the necessary level of skills, knowledge and experience required to practise dentistry in the UK.”
- The 12-week consultation closes on September 26, 2023.
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