Luke Cascarini is a consultant Oral and Maxillofacial, Head and Neck Cancer Surgeon at The North West London Hospitals NHS Trust and also honorary consultant at both The Royal Marsden Hospital and The West Middlesex University Hospital. His special interests are the surgical management of mouth cancer, in particular complex reconstruction. Luke is an associate editor of the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, has co-authored a surgical textbook on principles of surgery, and has written a number of chapters and published and presented numerous articles. Clare Schilling studied medicine in London and did not come across the specialty of OMFS until her pre-registration year where she happened to share a ward with the Maxillofacial team. Fascinated by what she saw them doing, she secured her first SHO job in Maxillofacial surgery. Claire thoroughly enjoyed working in OMFS and then went on to complete her basic surgical training and although she enjoyed all the more 'traditional' surgical specialties she still kept coming back to OMFS. She decided to take the plunge and went to study dentistry as a mature student and was delighted to find several like-minded medics along the way. It seems the 'medicine first' route is becoming more common every year. Since qualifying in dentistry she has entered a Specialist Training program for OMFS and can honestly say that she hasn't looked back once. It is a longer training pathway than most but it is definitely worth it. Ben Gurney trained at Edinburgh Medical School before completing basic surgical training in the North East of England. It was during his second year of the BST that he was exposed to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery whilst working in ITU and looking after head and neck cancer cases that had undergone major surgery. Ben was lucky to be appointed as an OMFS SHO at Sunderland Royal Hospital where he had a wonderful year of training and a thorough introduction to OMFS. It also opened up a world of oral, dental, and facial surgery that, as a medical graduate, had remained a complete mystery. Having been inspired to pursue a career in OMFS, Ben completed a second undergraduate degree in dentistry at Kings College London, and he is now now a specialty OMFS trainee with the London Deanery. Peter Brennan is a consultant Oral and Maxillofacial, Head and Neck Cancer Surgeon at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. He is also honorary Professor of Surgery. He has been a consultant for nine years and has clinical interests in the management of head and neck cancer, salivary gland disease, and microvascular free tissue transfer. In addition to a busy clinical practice, Peter is committed to research and education. He is currently the honorary editor of the British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and is on the editorial board of other journals. Peter has recently been elected as the next chairman of the English College Court of Examiners for the MRCS examination - a first for a maxillofacial surgeon. He is an author on nearly 200 peer reviewed papers and supports trainees at all levels. He teaches worldwide, particularly in India on a regular basis.
