Clinical academic staff survey

The Dental Clinical Academic Staff Survey is a way for institutions such as universities, hospitals and research funders to understand the current pool of clinical academics. With this information they can better plan for the future of clinical academia, ensuring that it continues to benefit patient care.

Historically this information was not collected in a coordinated way, so recognising shortfalls in particular specialities was difficult. The first survey was undertaken in 2000 and the Dental Schools Council assumed responsibility for the survey in 2003, after which it has been undertaken annually. Over the same period, the Medical Schools Council has conducted a survey into the numbers of dental clinical academics.

The reports include analysis by clinical specialty, vacancies, region, funding source, age, gender and ethnicity. They chart how staffing has changed in these respects over time and offer a guide for which elements could be addressed in future.

As of 2018, all current and historical data are collected into interactive Tableau reports. These are updated every year and divided into the following sections:

1: Overview
2: Funding
3: Demographics
4: Working patterns
5: Vacancies

A summary and analysis of the latest data can be found in Survey of Dental Clinical Academic Staffing Levels 2018.

Previous versions of the survey can be found as PDF documents in the publications section.