The role of Honorary Secretary, like so many in the College, is a voluntary one. The post holder has responsibility, on behalf of the Dental Council, to ensure the Faculty complies with the internal Regulations of the College – a responsibility that now belongs to Professor Ivor G Chestnutt.
This role includes – but is not limited to – responding to correspondence, emails and enquiries received by the Faculty, ensuring that appropriate governance systems and processes are in place to support the internal workings of the Faculty, and leading on engagement with members, key external partners and stakeholders, including prospective Fellows and Members. The role is heavily supported by the College’s permanent members of staff, specifically the Faculty Development Manager, Catherine Thwaites, and the Senior Faculty Administrator, Cire Grimmer.
Professor Chestnutt says: “I was told that it is the job of the Hon Secretary to ensure that rules are observed. This is obviously important but, more importantly, it is the job of the Hon Secretary to ensure that we look after people. The College is nothing without its people. We rely heavily on the many volunteers who support the College by acting as examiners, writing questions and delivering educational courses.
“We need to ensure that, at a time when everyone is under so much pressure, we facilitate the next generation of dentists who will ensure the work of the Dental Faculty continues in the coming decades, and that the Diploma Award Ceremony is just the start of career-long engagement with the College.” Professor Chestnutt’s association with the College goes back to 1990, when he was awarded a Fellowship in Dental Surgery, winning the Dean’s Medal as the most distinguished candidate of that year. He has been continuously involved in postgraduate education and training and served on and chaired the Intercollegiate Specialty Board in Dental Public Health.
Based in South Wales for the past 25 years, Chestnutt is Professor in Dental Public Health at Cardiff University and Hon Consultant to Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. He has recently completed a six-year term as Clinical Director of the University Dental Hospital in Cardiff and has been the Director of Postgraduate Dental Education at Cardiff University for 11 years. A graduate of Edinburgh University, he undertook MPH and PhD studies in Glasgow and specialty training in Dental Public Health with Lanarkshire and Tayside Health Boards. Professor Chestnutt has an extensive research portfolio in the fields of dental health services, epidemiology and clinical trials of preventive dental products.
As the Dean of the Dental Faculty, Professor Grant McIntyre writes (see pages 50-51), this is a particularly busy time for the Dental Faculty. In addition to the changes to the governance structures of the College, there are significant changes to the Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations as they move from a variety of mono and intercollegiate arrangements to quad-collegiate examinations for all dental specialties.
Professor Chestnutt says: “The breadth of assessments undertaken by the Dental Faculty is quite staggering. It ranges from the award of primary registrable qualifications for dental care professionals (orthodontic therapists and clinical dental technicians) to qualifications at consultant level across 10 different dental specialties. The recent addition of diploma examinations brings the assessment of learning by general dental practitioners at a sub-specialist level into the fold.”
He adds: “An aspect of the Faculty’s work that is of ever-increasing importance is the work being done overseas. As they develop their dental services, commissioners around the world – and specifically those in the Middle East and Asia – are keen to collaborate with us to bring quality and reassurance to the training and assessment of their dental professionals.”
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