Mike Murphy

I currently work as an associate specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Royal Gwent Hospital in southeast Wales. I have been in post for the last twelve years. I have been a member of the association since its inception and before that a member of what was the Staff and Associate Specialist (SAS) group within BAOMS.I have had a long association with medical politics which culminated in the chairmanship of the Welsh Staff and Associate Specialist Committee from 2001 to 2005. As chairman I represented all SAS’s in Wales on the UK wide SASC. More recently I have been appointed as Royal College of Surgeons examiner for the new Oral Surgery Membership examination.The next couple of years are likely to be an important time for us as a dental specialty. The review of oral surgery being carried out by the Dental Programme Board of NHS Medical Education England is complete and due to be published this summer. It will set the agenda for the development of oral surgery in both primary and secondary care.I have something positive to offer the association’s council in terms of my previous experience in hospital service, in negotiating with external bodies and with my wider knowledge of medical politics.