An evaluation of general professional training for dentistry in Scotland: General professional training

Key Points In this General Professional Training pilot scheme dentists spend time in general practice as well as the hospital and community services. The scheme encouraged greater understanding of each branch of the profession for both trainers and trainees and provided more opportunities to develop a range of clinical and generic skills than the established training schemes. This evaluation provides guidance for the development of future schemes. The first General Professional Training (GPT) scheme in Scotland ran from August 1996 to July 1998 with sixteen trainees completing one year in general practice and two six-month blocks in the hospital and community services. An independent evaluation of the scheme focussed on the advantages and disadvantages of GPT and the level of support for the scheme as well as providing stakeholders with an opportunity to contribute to its development. This paper reports the findings of the evaluation.