Abstract
BackgroundA medium- and long-term perspective is required in human resource development to ensure that future needs and demands for oral healthcare are met by the most appropriate health professionals. This paper presents a case study of the Sultanate of Oman, one of the Gulf States with a current population of 3.8 million, which has initiated dental training through the creation of a dental college.ObjectivesThe objectives of this paper are first to describe trends in the dental workforce in Oman from 1990 to date and compare the dental workforce with its medical counterparts in Oman and with other countries, and second, to consider future dental workforce in the Sultanate.MethodsData were collected from published sources, including the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Manpower (MoM), and Ministry of National Economy (MoNE)-Sultanate of Oman; the World Health Organization (WHO); World Bank; and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Dentist-to-population ratios were compared nationally, regionally and globally for medicine and dentistry. Dental graduate outputs were mapped onto the local supply. Future trends were examined using population growth predictions, exploring the expected impact in relation to global, regional and European workforce densities.ResultsPopulation growth in Oman is increasing at a rate of over 2% per year. Oman has historically been dependent upon an expatriate dental workforce with only 24% of the dentist workforce Omani in 2010 (n = 160). Subsequent to Oman Dental College (ODC) starting to qualify dental (BDS) graduates in 2012, there is an increase in the annual growth of the dentist workforce. On the assumption that all future dental graduates from ODC have an opportunity to practise in Oman, ODC graduates will boost the annual Omani dentist growth rate starting at 28% per annum from 2012 onwards, building capacity towards global (n = 1711) and regional levels (Gulf State: n = 2167) in the medium term.ConclusionThe output of dental graduates from Oman Dental College is improving the dentist-to-population ratio and helping the Sultanate to realize its aim of developing an Omani-majority dental workforce. The implications for retention of dentists and team training are discussed.
Highlights
A medium- and long-term perspective is required in human resource development to ensure that future needs and demands for oral healthcare are met by the most appropriate health professionals
Global movement of populations and dental health professionals presents a major challenge to Gallagher et al Human Resources for Health (2015) 13:50 planning for the future [8,9]; it is important that each country regularly examines its dental workforce needs to ensure that it is taking account of population changes, health needs, workforce numbers, skills and expectations
Only 24% of the dentist workforce was Omani in 2010; this ranged from 53% Ministry of Health, 68% in nonMoH government sector which includes the military services and only 1% in the private sector [26]
Summary
A medium- and long-term perspective is required in human resource development to ensure that future needs and demands for oral healthcare are met by the most appropriate health professionals. This paper presents a case study of the Sultanate of Oman, one of the Gulf States with a current population of 3.8 million, which has initiated dental training through the creation of a dental college. Global movement of populations and dental health professionals presents a major challenge to Gallagher et al Human Resources for Health (2015) 13:50 planning for the future [8,9]; it is important that each country regularly examines its dental workforce needs to ensure that it is taking account of population changes, health needs, workforce numbers, skills and expectations. The population is young but ageing; by 2050, it is anticipated that the population of Oman will exceed 7 million with the proportion of older people increasing significantly
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