Nature of OMFS
|
|
single medical degree Maxillo-facial surgery
The specialty of Stomatology has ended. It was a pure medical specialty with extensive dental education but has been stopped in 2011 at the request of the dentists and has been theoretically replaced by OS, accessible both to dental and medical trainees. However, OS has rapidly become very controversial as the frontier between OS (that is part of MFS) and MFS is regularly questioned, especially by single dental qualified oral surgeons.
Since 2022, the Teacher’ College of MFS is working on the restoration of the medical specialty of Stomatology. OS would than become a pure dental specialty as it was before 2011.
|
|
|
|
Timing of second degree (if any)
|
None - single degree MF
|
Length of specialty training
|
6 years
|
Number of OMFS specialists
|
About 1200 Stomatologists and Maxillo-facial surgeons
|
Number of OMFS trainees +/-
|
Between 23 and 25/ year (138 to 150 in the active training file)
|
Number of OMFS training rotations
|
5-6 on average (depending on a training program contract that is signed at the beginning of the training between the trainee and the local coordinator of the specialty). One semester in another hospital/region/country at least is encouraged.
|
Major (Hub) units
|
There are 45 CHRU (university centers) and 43 of them have an OMFS department
|
National Specialty
|
2 (SFSCMFCO AFCF)
|
Contact for specialty association
|
Pr Christophe MEYER
Dr André CHAINE
|
Medical Association
|
|
Section representative
|
André CHAINE, Christophe MEYER
|
Board representative
|
André CHAINE, Christophe MEYER
|
Oral Surgery
|
|
Number of oral surgeons
|
≈ 140 (in 2022) coming from the medical degree [≈ 15 trainees/year + qualified practitioners coming from a medical national qualification commission]. At least as much coming from the dental degree (15 trainees/years in this pathway too) but the exact number is unknown as we (the medical practitioners) have no access to the data of the dental national qualification commission].
|
Oral surgery training duration
|
4 years
|
|
Update on national scene - No
|
|
Changes since last year
|
MFS have expressed in 2022 their willingness of disengagement from the OS specialty. This will lead at least to the end of the medical degreed oral surgery specially and may lead to the restoration of the medical specialty of Stomatology.
|
Opportunities
|
MFS is the second most appreciated surgical speciality among medical trainees since several years, testifying of its vitality.
|
Threats
|
|
Absence of double degree (but this is not a real problem as very few French MFS want to leave their country in order to move in strict double degree countries. What French MFS trainees really want is not a double degree but a better dental training)
Important pressure of single dental qualified oral surgeons to practice maxillo-facial surgery.
|
|
| Useful resources and links |
http://www.sfscmfco.fr/
http://www.sfscmfco.com/
(new official site of the SFSCMCO since end of 2022) |