First multi-stakeholder event for the GED

5th and 6th February 2025 Dublin, Ireland

In early 2024, the GED Taskforce held an in-person stakeholder workshop aimed at critically examining the ideological foundations underpinning the GED curriculum framework. The primary objectives of the event were to:

• Elicit stakeholder feedback to refine the GED approach.
• Identify challenges in implementing the GED framework and in training OHPs.
• Develop a shared, multi-stakeholder perspective on priority actions and potential solutions to these challenges

The stakeholder event was held on 5th and 6th February 2025 in Dublin, Ireland. Invitations were distributed to a broad range of relevant stakeholders. A total of 38 stakeholders accepted the invitation, representing academic institutions, professional associations, regulatory bodies, public health organisations, students and industrial partners

Discussion topics

Discussion focused on identifying the current challenges faced in delivering high-quality OHP education. Delegates were asked to respond based on their own institutional and professional experiences, informed by the preparatory reading materials, including the GED framework and associated documents. The responses revealed a wide range of perceived barriers, with particular emphasis on funding limitations, resource constraints and staffing shortages. Nonetheless, the breadth of issues highlighted by participants extended beyond structural concerns to include student-related challenges such as educational debt, academic underperformance and the management of struggling learners

Following further discussion, 3 themes, with associated challenges, were presented for exploration at the meeting:

• Student experience and patient safety
  • Limitations with patient mix/amount/level of clinical experience
  • Limits on clinical contact time
  • Limited staff numbers/poor ratios/lack of expertise
• Social efficiency and the workforce
  • Ensuring appropriate recruitment and admission of students
  • Ensuring the health needs of the population are met
  • Delivering true Inter-Professional Education
  • Preparing students to work in a particular Healthcare system
  • Lack of enthusiasm for working in a state sector
  • Catering for changing workforce requirements
• Curriculum approaches
  • Disparate curriculum approaches across the European region
  • Lack of student independence upon graduation
  • Early identification of struggling students
  • Increases in student requests for support
  • Managing students who are failing to progress

Key initiatives

In assimilating these considerable and varied initiatives, the taskforce clearly has a multiparty mandate to ensure that the GED continues to be of value and use to its stakeholders. Given the diversity not only of the stakeholder requirements and expectations, but also of regional and national variation in the delivery of OHP education throughout Europe, ensuring regional participation in the Taskforce's work and enabling an inclusive approach to updating and the development of future supporting resources will be key. Whilst all proposed suggestions were valid, the taskforce has considered the full range of discussions across the stakeholder event. The Taskforce has prioritised a number of initiatives that it believes will help to address significant challenges in the delivery of OHP education in coming years.

With this in mind, the Taskforce proposed the following objectives for 2025–2030:

• Expand taskforce membership to drive regional representation in future work.
• Establish subgroups reporting to the Taskforce on the development of guidance on GED use by regulators and institutions.
• Establish a subgroup to explore the development of an expected standard for clinical training and contact time.
• Establish a subgroup to explore the suitability and practicality of the development of a common curriculum for OHP education and how this might align within the GED.
• Consider how aspects such as reflective practice, outreach, digital dentistry, AI and the other recurring discussion themes can be best integrated within the GED and existing resources.
• Continue the evolution of ADEE MOLAR—the curriculum mapping platform.
• Continue to actively engage with pan-European and regional key partners on the GED's evolution, and to enable greater awareness of the project.

Paper link here