Finland Report

Nature of OMFS (pick)	Maxillo-facial (single degree medicine)
Timing of second degree (if any)	Often DDS before MD but not always
Length of specialty training	6 years
Number of OMFS specialists	20
Number of OMFS trainees	12
Number of OMFS training rotations
Major (Hub) units	2
National Specialty Assoc.	Finnish Association of Maxillofacial Surgery
Contact for specialty association	Risto Kontio
Medical Assoc (confirming status)	Finnish Medical Association
Section representative	Risto Kontio and Christian Lindqvist
Board representative	Risto Kontio and Christian Lindqvist
Oral Surgery
Number of oral surgeons	These are called dental specialists in oral and maxillofacial surgery in Finland. Training 6 years, including a minimum of 100 study points medicine. In hospital practice about 50. In office practice 100. Many oral surgeons also hold a MD degree
Oral surgery training duration	3 years minimum (but most are 4 year programmes) In Finland 6 years: the ones graduating from University of Helsinki also have so far reached the MD degree. This will be difficult in the future!
Update on national scene - Yes
Changes since last year	Difficulties to have double education because the MD or DDS has to go through the same admission exams as the high-school graduates, which makes entrance extremely difficult, even impossible. No privileges for the ones specializing in OMFS.
Opportunities	Maxillofacial surgery as a medical speciality should in the future clearly be separated from oral surgery which is a dental speciality.
Threats (2018)	In Finland we always hoped that the DDS-based oral (and maxillofacial) surgery and the MD-based (oral and) maxillofacial surgery specialities could have been combined to one and only, of course requiring both MD and DDS degrees. Now it is clear that we are not going to achieve this goal. Oral surgery will remain a pure dental speciality and maxillfacial surgery a medical speciality. I feel now, having recently been retired from the Chairman post at Helsinki University, a bit sorry for this development. Yet, it seems that there is nothing that can be done. Risto Kontio who now holds the Professorship at Helsinki University will work for a strong MD based maxillofacial surgery speciality. The main problem seems to be how to achieve both MD and DDS degrees as unfortunately both the University and Ministry authorities lack understanding of the need for two basic degrees.