Formalisation and Documentation of a Competency Framework for Aspiring Deans and Heads of European Dental Schools

Context: The Forum of European Heads and Deans of Dental Schools (FEHDD) was re-established in 2007 to provide a means of bringing together European Dental School Deans, Heads and their deputies to explore current topics of interest. One such topic is leadership development and succession. The importance of leadership succession in oral health professional academic settings is well noted. With some suggesting leadership in this arena is facing a recruitment and retention crisis, FEHDD developed and launched in 2017, a ‘Competency Framework for Aspiring Deans and Heads of European Dental Schools’. The framework was updated in 2024. Aim: The aim of this paper is to summaries the development and updating processed that was followed by FEHDD and to raise awareness of the framework with relevant stakeholders. The 2024 framework has been further supported by an online tool to enable faculty track their development.