Sir, the Royal London Hospital was one of the largest COVID-19 hubs across the UK and in December 2020 elective dentistry was reduced to allow reallocation of dental staff to departments where the hospital required most help. Restorative and oral and maxillofacial surgery dental core trainees (DCTs) were amongst the first cohort of staff to be redeployed, many as nurses, healthcare assistants or as junior doctors to help in both Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and COVID-19 ICUs.

As one of this cohort, I was redeployed as a junior doctor and it was definitely a steep learning curve especially on the crash call team. Dealing with life and death was a situation that as a dentist, I had never envisioned I would be in; however, I was able to hone the skills that I had learnt during dental school. My fellow DCTs redeployed as junior doctors worked closely with consultants and registrars and our duties included involvement in daily handover meetings, having multi-disciplinary meetings with other medical profession teams (such as radiology and microbiology), and supporting with crash calls.

Looking back, the experience was invaluable as I became more confident with working under pressure and within a wider team where I was able to identify a deteriorating patient to successfully start emergency medicine. During BDS training and yearly BLS (Basic Life Support) training, we learn skills that can support and equip us to handle medical emergencies, which ensure patient safety. However, my experience in emergency medicine gave me more confidence to deal with medical emergencies should they arise. It poses the question: should a placement within emergency medicine be compulsory during dental school? I would urge dental students and clinicians currently undertaking hospital placements to shadow A&E doctors; it is such an invaluable experience which altogether makes one a more confident and well-rounded dental practitioner.