Variation in UK Deanery publication rates in the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: where are the current 'hot spots'?

Publication in peer-reviewed journals is often seen as a cornerstone of the academic and clinical career within medicine and surgery. As one of the largest circulations in oral and maxillofacial surgery, the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (BJOMS) offers trainees and consultants the opportunity to disseminate valuable information worldwide. The aim of this paper is to investigate the variation in publication rates of U.K. authors based upon their Deanery in order to identify potential hotspots. All volumes of BJOMS between 2011 and 2019 were hand searched to identify full articles authored by authors in U.K., these were categorised by Deanery and allocated a theme within OMFS. The results demonstrate that, of the 378 full length articles, over 30% of these were from two Deaneries: London and North West (West). Oncology, OMFS training and education, and craniofacial trauma were the three most common themes of publication amounting to 51.5% of total publications. There has been an unfortunate decrease in publications from U.K. Deaneries of almost 30% from 2011 to 2019 which begs the question of whether fewer publications are being accepted or if rates of submission have reduced.

Improving surgical training: Establishing a surgical anatomy programme in Scotland.

BACKGROUND: It is well recognized that a sound foundation in surgical anatomy is a cornerstone of safe surgical practice, yet many trainees struggle with the upskilling in anatomy that is required to support their day-to-day practice. In the context of the UK-wide Improving Surgical Training pilot, we set out to establish a surgical anatomy programme for core surgical trainees in the Scotland Deanery. The aim was to enable all trainees to review the surgical anatomy of the whole body to MRCS level at least once during core surgical training. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Teaching was delivered in Edinburgh, with trainees commuting from all parts of the Scotland Deanery. Individual teaching days focused on the surgical anatomy of the head and neck, trunk and limbs, using a combination of lectures (principles and cases) and interactive demonstrations on prosected specimens. Faculty comprised a balance of surgical demonstrators and senior academic staff, including MRCS examiners. RESULTS: In total, 16 individual teaching sessions were attended by over 300 trainees across the first 2 years of the programme. Evaluation form response rate was nearly 80%. The programme was highly rated by trainees in relation to the method of delivery, level of teaching and surgical focus. CONCLUSION: Surgical anatomy remains an integral part of surgical training. Our experience in developing a deanery-wide surgical anatomy programme highlights the crucial links between medical school, training deanery and surgical college. This collaborative approach can be extended to higher surgical training and continuing professional development, and the methods can be adapted to meet the needs of trainees in different parts of the globe.