Tri-Collegiate Membership in Special Care Dentistry

All candidates must provide certified evidence of a primary dental qualification that is approved by the Colleges. 

Candidates may apply for the exam after completing, by the time of the exam, 2.5 years of full-time training (or equivalent part-time). The training should be continuous; however, in some cases, breaks in training may be permitted. The total training period should not normally exceed 6 years. 

Candidates must also fulfill one or more of the following criteria: 

• Satisfactorily completed, by the time of the examination, a minimum of 30 months of a full-time 3-year training appointment (or pro-rata for part-time trainees) in a UK training programme.
  
  
• Satisfactorily completed, by the time of the examination, a minimum of 30 months of continuous full-time (or part-time equivalen over a maximum of six continuous years) specialty training overseas or in an EEA specialty training programme that is approved by the Colleges. 
• Be registered as a specialist in Special Care Dentistry in the UK.

Candidates who do not fulfill the above requirements may apply for special consideration of their experience by submitting the full details at least four months before the closing date of the exam diet.

The Diploma of Membership in Special Care Dentistry consists of three components:

• Written paper: A multiple-choice question (MCQ) paper in two parts. Each part has 90 questions and lasts for two hours.
• Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): There will be six stations, each with five minutes of reading time and ten minutes of observed activity. The OSCE assesses candidates' communication in different clinical situations.
• Unseen Cases: This will consist of eight unseen cases in a clinical scenario format. For each case, the candidate will be given five minutes to study the patient history, results of examination, and investigations. The structured oral examination relating to each case will last for fifteen minutes.