FOUR of Scotland’s top dental professionals are celebrating their places in the final of the Scottish Dental Lifetime Achievement Award 2012.
Nominated and voted for by fellow industry professionals, the first ever Scottish Dental Lifetime Achievement Award pays tribute to a committed individual who has made a real difference to the dental industry in Scotland.
Dr Graham McKirdy from Glasgow; Professor William Saunders from Dundee and Edinburgh’s Dr Jim Rennie CBE and Dr Hew Mathewson CBE are in the running for the award.
Dr Graham McKirdy has spent the last 21 years as a partner in practices in both Glasgow and Hamilton. He has been a member of the BDA’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee (previously SGDSC) since 1991 and was the committee’s chairman from 1997 to 2003, when he became its executive.
Currently chairing the NHS pensions negotiations for the BDA on a UK-wide basis, Graham also held a part-time teaching post at Glasgow Dental Hospital for 20 years.
Professor William Saunders has made a substantial contribution to dentistry in Scotland over many years. As dean of Dundee Dental School, chair of the Dental Schools Council, and council member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, he has been pivotal in the development of undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
Dr Jim Rennie CBE, who retired in March 2011, is theformer dean of postgraduate dental education for Scotland and has played a key role in the national strategy and resource allocation for Scottish dentistry over the years.
The award nomination comes just months after Jim earned the Royal seal of approval with a CBE in the 2011 Birthday Honours for his services to dentistry.
Meanwhile, Dr Hew Mathewson, who was awarded his CBE for services to healthcare in the 2010 New Years Honours List, currently owns and manages apractice in Edinburgh, where he has been since qualifying in 1977.
Hew has held a number of roles within the British Dental Association (BDA) and the General Dental Council (GDC) over the years. He served as GDC president from 2003 until 2009 when he became the council’s first-ever chairman from 2009 until he handed over the reins to Alison Lockyer in 2010.
The overall winner will be announced at an evening drinks reception at the inaugural Scottish Dental Show at Glasgow’s Hampden Park on Thursday 24 May 2012.
Bruce Oxley, editor of Scottish Dental magazine, organisers of the Scottish Dental Show and Scottish Dental Lifetime Achievement Award 2012, said: “Each of the four nominees for the Lifetime Achievement Award are leading lights of Scotland’s dental industry, which employs 10,000 professionals – from surgeons and technicians to hygienists and nurses.
“As dental professionals from across Scotland descend on Glasgow for the first Scottish Dental Show on 24 and 25 May, it’s the ideal opportunity to honour the industry’s top practitioners.”
Dental professionals can vote for their chosen Lifetime Achievement Award nominee at http://www.scottishdentalshow.co.uk/lifetime.html, before the vote is closed on Tuesday 1 May.
