[Professional profile of the established oromaxillofacial surgeon]

To qualify for further specialist training as a maxillofacial surgeon, a licence to practice in general medicine as well as a licence to practice in dentistry must be obtained beforehand. In addition to the 4-year course to qualify, maxillofacial surgeons can gain the additional qualification in the field of "plastic surgery" in a further course lasting 3 years. By the end of 1998, there were 698 maxillofacial surgeons in private practices in Germany in comparison to 322 hospital-employed maxillofacial surgeons. Of the work done by maxillofacial surgeons (in private practices), 28% is in contracted hospitals; this percentage is relatively high in comparison to other disciplines in which private specialists use contracted hospitals. It is impossible these days for an individual specialist to completely cover all areas of maxillofacial surgery. In our field, joint practices with an internal specialization will increase the spectrum and quality of treatment in the future and will counteract competition from hospital-employed specialists now that day-case surgery has been introduced in these hospitals. Further training by the individual will remain an indispensable necessity as well as personal involvement by every maxillofacial surgeon in the postgraduate medical training of doctors and dentists. This can only be achieved if the economic situation of specialists is maintained in health-politics.