Longitudinal Posts
DFT posts will be based within Porth Dental Teaching Unit, Porth, Leith House, Pontypridd Rd, Porth CF39 9PH and form part of the DFT Glamorgan Vale and Beacon scheme. The scheme TPD is Robert Davies.
DCT posts will be rotational posts 6 months Prince Charles Hospital, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and 6 months Community Dental Service, Ysbyty Cwm Cynon and various other sites. These posts sit on the Merthyr DCT scheme. The scheme TPDs are Anjani Holmes and Esther Brewer.
The National Recruitment process will allocate you, at scheme level, and HEIW will be in touch with allocated trainees after 09/06/2025.
Please note: This is a continuous two-year development opportunity with post holders spending a year in a DFT post and a year in a DCT post.
DFT year
The Dental Foundation Training year will be based at Porth Dental Teaching Unit and will sit within the Glamorgan Vale & Beacons scheme. The unit is a facility which accommodates a hands-on training room with eighteen phantom heads and a lecture theatre which seats a maximum of 100 people. The Unit has a complete range of IT facilities equipped with plasma screens, demonstration cameras and WiFi access.
The Unit is a short walking distance from Porth train station (catch the Valley line train to Treherbert, approximately every 30 minutes and get off at Porth, which is only a 40-minute journey from Cardiff Central station) and easy car parking in the surrounding area.
The Study Day Programme for the Glamorgan Vale and Beacons Scheme will usually be held at the Dental Teaching Unit in Porth. The scheme has a mixture of seminar presentations, workshops, hands-on sessions, practice visits and regional conferences. Topics are varied and subject to constant review, but may typically include Crown and Bridgework, Adhesive dentistry, Oral Surgery, Endodontics, Ethical and Legal Issues, Financial Management and Understanding the NHS Regulations, Child Protection, plus many other core subjects.
This scheme offers opportunities to develop and expand your range of clinical skills and build your confidence in a supportive environment.
All Welsh schemes offer Foundation Dentists the chance to complete additional learning opportunities such as Quality Improvement projects, which are a positive addition to your CV.
The Dental Foundation Training Programme Director, Rob Davies, has been the Training Programme Director for the scheme since it first started in 2011 and has been an Educational Supervisor for 15 years prior to this role. Rob’s attitude towards Dental Foundation Training has always been that it should be an enjoyable and informative year whilst adopting high professional standards, gaining as much experience as possible in a supportive environment based on sound mentoring principles.
DCT year
The Merthyr Dental Core Training (DCT) scheme is based at Prince Charles Hospital Merthyr Tydfil, within a few miles of the outstandingly beautiful Brecon Beacons, and approximately 20 miles from Cardiff. Access from Cardiff is easy with the route entirely dual carriageway.
The centre has a clinical skills room with phantom head facilities, and seminar rooms with IT facilities. Hands-on courses, including surgical dentistry, are held at this centre.
There is a 28-day educational element (study days) covering both hospital and community practice which are usually held on a Thursday. There are 2 days (1 day per 6-month rotation period) allocated for self-directed learning.
The Dental Core Training Programme Directors are Anjani Holmes and Esther Brewer
Prince Charles Hospital, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery with on-call – 6 months
The Oral and Maxillofacial rotation will be include a 1 in 8 out of hours on-call rota in a busy District General Hospital. Experience will be gained in facial hard and soft tissue trauma, orofacial infection, deformity, pathology of the jaws and oral soft tissues, facial and oral neoplasia and dento-alveolar surgery. Trainees will work in out-patient clinics, in-patient wards, A&E departments, Operating Theatres and Minor Surgery units.
Community Dental Service, Ysbyty Cwm Cynon and various other sites – 6 months
The community rotation within Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board provides experience treating a range of patients within the CDS patient demographic, as outlined in the Welsh Health Circular WHC (2022) 022. Clinical experience will include treating patients with complex health needs - which may include medical, physical or mental health needs. In addition to the provision of dental care for looked after children or children with high rates of dental disease, and frail and vulnerable older people. The post also includes regular independent domiciliary care sessions. There will be opportunities to observe inhalation sedation sessions, the paediatric GA lists, general anaesthetic assessment clinics, special care dentistry consultants, paediatric specialists, and the designed to smile prevention programme.
FAQs