A new clinical training scheme for overseas dentists under Tier 5 M. A. Wilson, 1 C. Butterworth 2 and C. Barclay 3 VERIFIABLE CPD PAPER visa. The type of visa issued has a consid- erable effect on the type of employment in the UK. If the overseas dentist is plan- ning to treat patients in the UK s/he also needs to be registered with the General Dental Council (GDC). It is important to remember that visa entry to the UK is independent of and not related to registration with the GDC. Registration with the GDC does not guar- antee entry to the UK nor employment as a dentist in the UK. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) is responsible for: managing border control, customs regulation and migration to the UK, applications for permission to enter or stay in the United Kingdom, citizen- ship and asylum. It has introduced a points based entry scheme which has had a huge impact on the opportunities for overseas qualified dentists who wish to train or work in the UK. In the last year there have been signifi- cant changes in the immigration laws to the UK resulting in fewer training oppor- tunities for overseas trained dentists in UK hospitals. Despite these changes, it is important that there is still a mechanism for some overseas trained dentists to be able to come to the UK to continue to experience clinical training and acquire new clinical techniques. THE POINTS BASED IMMIGRATION SYSTEM TO THE UK The new points system of the UKBA com- bines prior work experience and study routes into the UK into five tiers. In this INTRODUCTION There has been a long tradition of overseas dentists coming to undertake postgradu- ate training and acquire skills and clinical experience in UK hospitals. The National Health Service is one of the largest pub- lic health care services in the world and employs consultants at the forefront of clinical training and research. The National Advice Centre for Postgraduate Dental Education (NACPDE) is based in the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and gives advice and informa- tion to dentists who trained outside the UK about working and training in the UK. This advice and information ranges from specific details about UK examinations, how to work in the UK, what visa would be required, how to write a CV, how to become a specialist or what postgradu- ate courses would be required for a career in the UK. Before an overseas dentist can come to the UK it is necessary to have a UK entry Since the introduction of the Points Based Immigration System to the UK the opportunities for overseas trained dentists to train in the UK have been limited. This paper describes a new opportunity which has resulted from the Tier 5 Medical Training Initiative. new system, migrants to the UK have to undergo a points-based assessment before they can enter the UK. The system consists of five tiers with each tier having a differ- ent points requirement. The tiers are: Tier 1: Highly skilled individuals to con- tribute to growth and productivity. Tier 1 has replaced the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP). Any individual who would have previously applied through the HSMP route will now follow the Tier 1 process when their existing permission to stay ends. Tier 2: Skilled workers with a job offer to fill gaps in the United Kingdom labour force. It is an employer led system which allows UK employers to recruit individu- als from outside the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) to fill vacancies that cannot be filled by an EEA worker. The employer will need to demonstrate that there was no suitably qualified EEA citizen able to accept the post before the post can be offered to an overseas citizen. The employer will be required to sponsor the dentist for the post. Tier 3: Limited numbers of low skilled workers needed to fill temporary labour shortages. Tier 4: Undergraduate and postgraduate students. Tier 5: Government Authorised Exchange. Youth Mobility, temporary workers and Medical Training Initiative (MTI) posts. These are people allowed to work in the United Kingdom for a limited period of time to satisfy primarily non- economic objectives. 1* National Advice Centre for Postgraduate Dental Edu- cation, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 35- 43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PE; 2 Consultant in Oral Rehabilitation, Merseyside Head & Neck Cancer Centre, University Hospital Aintree NHS Foundation Trust; 3 Consultant/Hon Senior Lecturer in Restorative Dentistry, Associate Postgraduate Dental Dean (Spe- cialisation), Director of Education (Mandec), Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, M15 6FH *Correspondence to: Dr Margaret Wilson Email: mwilson@rcseng.ac.uk Refereed Paper Accepted 1 February 2010 DOI: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2010.253 © British Dental Journal 2010; 208: 257–258 • Provides information on immigration of overseas dentists. • Outlines new training opportunities in the UK for overseas dentists. IN BRIEF GENERAL BRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL VOLUME 208 NO. 6 MAR 27 2010 257 © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.