About The Faculty of Dental Surgery
The Faculty of Dental Surgery is an independent, internationally recognised professional body of The Royal College of Surgeons of England. Founded in 1947, the Faculty is comprised of a Board and more than 5,000 fellows and members in the UK and internationally. We are committed to helping the entire dental team achieve and maintain excellence in practice and patient care.
The foundations of our five-year strategy are rooted in The Royal College of Surgeons of England, with whom we share three core values of Collaboration, Respect and Excellence. We also share their mission to improve diversity, sustainability and wellbeing and will be working alongside them to embed these themes in our future work.
Our five key priorities
- To set the highest possible standards in oral healthcare by driving research, collating expertise and understanding the needs of our patients
- To develop the skills and confidence, networks and knowledge of our fellows and members at all stages of their careers
- To inform and influence policy makers by advocating for better and more equitable oral healthcare
- To transform our Faculty by sharing the values and aligning our strengths with The Royal College of Surgeons of England
- To grow our membership by embracing diversity, fostering belonging, nurturing future leaders and inspiring the next generation of dental professionals
Our values
We will deliver our values through our behaviours and attitudes which impact directly on the care delivered to patients and how we work together.
Collaboration
We embrace our collective responsibilities working collaboratively and as one college.
Behaviours
- We work together, using our collective expertise and experience to effect positive change
- We are open, honest and transparent, straightforward in our language and actions, acting with sincerity and delivering on our commitments
- We take our responsibilities to each other, to patient care and to the environment seriously and we act with this in mind across our work
Why?
Working collaboratively creates an environment that is conducive to improved productivity, trust and relationships. Teams that have the biggest impact are those where members take responsibility, celebrate success when things go well and take ownership when they don't.
Respect
We value every person we come into contact with at the College as an individual, respect their aspirations and commitments in life, and seek to understand and meet their physical and wellbeing needs.
Behaviours
- We treat everyone we meet with kindness and integrity and we seek to promote these behaviours in others
- We actively seek a range of views and experiences across our work, and we listen to, and make everyone feel, a valued part of the team
Why?
Knowledge multiplies among people who are able to learn from their differences. Evidence suggests that diverse organisations perform better and innovate quicker.
Excellence
We aspire to excellence and success. We share learning from our experiences, apply feedback into practice, and commit to continual improvement.
Behaviours
- We work hard to be be the best at what we do, recognising and celebrating effort and achievement, and reflecting on our work, so we can learn and improve
- We value and invest in research, education and training to drive excellence and put improvements in surgical practice, dentistry and patient care at the heart of our work
- We always seek to learn and discover more, valuing knowledge and scientific evidence, basing our decisions on insights, fact and experience
Why?
Transparency and agile working drive excellence and improvement. Motivated by the desire to serve and to be the best in our field, we will deliver on our commitments through rapid testing, innovation and future focused leadership.
What do we do?
We are innovators in education and professional development
We are one of the leading providers of dental education, supporting thousands of dentists worldwide to fulfil their potential. Our exams – both in the UK and internationally – ensure the highest dental professional standards.
We provide postgraduate dental training
Our wide spectrum of courses and training programmes ensure our members continue to meet the changing needs of patients and deliver appropriate health outcomes.
We pioneer research
We continue to invest and innovate for the future of dental surgery and patient care via research. Each year we award research grants, support our own research fellowship and offer full-time clinical research training fellowships.
We produce specialist publications
We provide our members with access to a wide range of journals, including the award-winning FDJ which provides expert opinion and commentary.
We offer great membership benefits
Our members are at the heart of everything we do. Our membership benefits offer the dental team unsurpassed support, professional development and a wealth of opportunities to help you get the most from your career.