Sir, many GDPs look at some point in their career to the possibility of studying for a postgraduate qualification. This journal is full of adverts trying to catch the eye of the dentist looking to enhance their skills, develop their practice or reinvigorate their career. This was a path I took when I committed to a part time MSc at the University of Edinburgh. I looked to this opportunity to learn new skills and provide a stimulating challenge. Unfortunately the course failed to live up to my understandably high expectations. I left after two years, comfortably passing the diploma, but deciding against taking the qualification further due to my dissatisfaction. The course floundered under a weight of poor planning and organisation, with fundamentals, such as the need to provide feedback, being ignored.

I write this letter not to discourage my colleagues from this path, but to encourage them to enter into postgraduate education with their eyes open. The University of Edinburgh is a very highly regarded institution with an international reputation; however, the nature of the rewarding body is clearly no guarantee of course quality. I would advise my fellow dentists to do a substantial amount of research before committing to a course, questioning levels of support that they should expect and analysing the timetabling of any coursework they will be required to complete. In my experience it is easy to describe a course as, 'PT and modular, being ideally suited to the busy GDP', while failing to recognise even the most obvious commitment, such as being sympathetic to a parent's need to take holidays at fixed times.

I would like to think that my problems were very much the minority; however, I hope my words will allow anybody interested in this career opportunity to make a more advised choice. Further details can be found in my course review on the Hotcourses.com website.