Academic dentistry--where is everybody?

If someone had told us, when we were undergraduates, that there was a career which allowed you the time, and gave you the support, to pursue and research the things about your profession which most interested you, we would have been intrigued. If we had then been informed that there was paid employment which encouraged you to travel extensively abroad, talking about your work, and also gave you the brightest young minds in the country to engage with, teach and learn from, we would have thought this job sounded very tempting. If we had then been told that it also provided secretaries and administrators to help you do your job, and was carried out in a non-hierarchical, collegiate environment where equality and diversity are valued--we would have jumped at the chance! And did! Because what is described above is the life of a clinical academic. Although all the above are part of the role of the academic, there is also immense value and joy to be obtained through scholarship, education and teaching, which are sometimes forgotten because so much of our time and energy is directed to dealing with our patients' problems, while wrestling with the intricacies of new contracts, clinical governance, evidence based practice, and so forth.