Dental vocational training: identifying and developing trainer expertise.

Aims: The aims of the study were two fold: to determine the influence of trainer expertise on the Vocational Training (VT) experience, particularly in terms of providing Vocational Dental Practitioners (VDPs) with positive role models; and to ascertain if it is possible to identify attributes of expertise that can signpost a successful path for new/less expert trainers.

Participants: Thirty-five VDPs and each of their Vocational Trainers participated in the study. All training took place in the South East of England.