The 2026 Foundation Nakao – CGDent Coaching and Mentoring Award for Dental Care Professionals is now open.
Establishing a mentor and coaching culture is key to the College’s commitment to workforce diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing. In promoting effective mentoring practice, we aim to foster appropriate support in the career pathway progression for all members of the oral healthcare team.
Thanks to sponsorship by Foundation Nakao, generously donated through Prof Avijit Banerjee FCGDent, and following the success of the 2025 award, we are able once again to a number of places on a three day training course in mentoring and coaching in 2026.
The award is open to College members who are registered as a dental therapist, dental hygienist, dental nurse, orthodontic therapist, dental technician or clinical dental technician. Our aspiration is to cultivate a community of College members amongst Dental Care Professionals who are equipped and confident to nurture their peers, and dentist members are therefore asked to support this aim by highlighting the opportunity to dental team colleagues.
The short course will be delivered synchronously online, using the Zoom platform, by UMD Professional, an organisation with more than thirty years of experience with dentistry, medicine, healthcare and law, to establishing coaching and mentoring practices within organisations*.
Course dates
- Day 1. Friday 9 October 2026
- Day 2. Saturday 10 October 2026
- Day 3 Friday 27 November 2026
Applicants must:
- Hold a current membership of the College at the time of application, in one of the registered Dental Care Professional roles. Join today.
- Have at least two years of post-qualification experience in the role.
- Be available to participate in all three days of the training.
- Be prepared to:
- apply mentoring or coaching skills between Day 2 and Day 3.
- apply the learning to support less experienced colleagues through the College
- contribute to the promotion of the experience in mentorship through an article or at a College event.
To apply
Download and complete the application form, which should be submitted by email to [email protected] using the subject line “Application for Foundation Nakao – CGDent Award 2026”.
The deadline for applications is 11.59pm on Friday 31 July 2026.
Places will be awarded based on candidates’ motivations, commitment to professional development and potential for impact in their practice and more widely, as evidenced through their application form. Successful applicants will be informed by email in August.
Foundation Nakao – also known as The Nakao Foundation for Worldwide Oral Health – was founded in Luzern in 2018 by Makato Nakao, Chairman of GC Corporation, a leading manufacturer of dental materials and equipment. GC also partners with the College on the CGDent-GC Award for Foundation Trainees and The Tom Bereznicki Award for Tooth Wear Cases.
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