Paul is the principal surgeon at Ocean Surgical, and provides the surgical expertise in the provision of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.   Trained in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, Paul has extensive knowledge and training in all facets of the surgical specialty. As well as having bachelor and masterate degrees in dentistry (BDS Honours University of Sydney & MDS in OMS University of Otago), and medicine/surgery (MB & ChB University of Otago) he holds a full surgical fellowship in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (FRACDS OMS), and was awarded with the honor of an ad eundem Fellowship with the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Faculty of Dental Surgeons (FDSRCS a.e. England), in June 2009, based on his international career achievement and qualifications to date.

Working with outstanding staff, and sustained by above-par relationships with major hospitals, specialist surgical providers, pharmacists, and the professional medical and dental communities, Paul is able to provide the key role in the team provision of complex multidisciplinary surgical Oral & Maxillofacial care.

As part of a long family tradition of Australian military service (beginning with his great grandfather in the Boer conflict, his grandfather's WW2 experience in Kokoda and PNG, and his mother's experience as a Lieutenant army nurse during the Malayan crisis), Paul is also a Surgeon Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Australian Navy, Medical Specialist Reserves and also provides civilian surgical support to the wider military community.

Paul is supported by a loving wife (Angela), and has two daughters Alessandra (born 1998) and Mia (born 2005) and two sons Kaleb (born 2006) and Massimiliano (born 2009). Born in Sydney (his family first emigrated to Sydney from Perth, Scotland in 1826), he has lived and worked in Newcastle since late 1999, and was first introduced to the Hunter area after working a brief stint at Royal Newcastle Hospital in 1989. Paul's family are a mixture of Scots, English, Italian and Swiss heritage, and Paul's children all maintain citizenships with Switzerland, Italy (EC), New Zealand, and of course Australia.

Paul has worked at the John Hunter, Royal Newcastle, Calvary-Mater Misericordiæ, Belmont and James Fletcher Public Hospitals, Toronto, Warner's Bay & Newcastle Private Hospitals and in a number of roles including psychiatric medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, and in public and private Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.

With a full working and training background in trauma and emergency medicine and surgery, as well as dentistry, Paul eventually completed his full surgical training in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery after 16 years of formal training before returning to permanently settle in Newcastle with his family.

He is a full member of the AMA, ADA, and ANZAOMS

MB ChB Otago

Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (ChB), University of Otago

These degrees were conducted at the University of Otago, and together constitute a formal full-time 6 year undergraduate programme conducted through the University of Otago. The university is based in Dunedin, New Zealand, and was formerly called the University of New Zealand.

The Christchurch School of Medicine, located about 400km north of Dunedin in New Zealand’s South Island, conducts the final three years of medical clinical training. Following graduation, a one-year internship is normally completed in an Australasian Hospital.

Holding the Otago MB ChB entitles registration as a medical practitioner in Australasia (e.g. NSW Medical Board), and holders can practice the full scope of general medicine, or go on to specialty training.

Equivalent Australasian degrees are the MB BS, BM BS, BM BCh, and B Med qualifications. The US degree equivalent is the MD qualification.

Dr Coceancig is a holder of the MB ChB qualification and is fully registered as a medical practitioner in NSW. These qualifications served as his basis for medical specialty recognition with the Federal Health Insurance Agency, and therefore full surgical Medicare privileges.

                 

BDS Hon's Sydney

Bachelor of Dental Surgery, with Honours, University of Sydney

This degree was a five year, full-time degree which has been superceded by the combined 3 year undergraduate Science degree, and post-graduate 4 year Bachelor of Dentistry degree, conducted by the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Sydney. The US degree equivalents are the DMD or DDS qualifications.

Honours degrees (USA/Canada equivalent is “cum laude”) are awarded to the top 10-20% of the graduating class. Other Australian universities award the “with Honours” appendage when completing a further 1 year research component.

Holding the BDS degree entitles registration with the NSW Dental Board to practice as a “dentist” or “dental surgeon”. These two terms are used inter-mutually, but do not imply specialist training or formal surgical standing.

The degree entitles practice in general dentistry, or for initiation of formal specialty training through a clinical Master’s programme.

MDS OMS Otago

Master of Dental Surgery, in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Otago

The MDS degree at the University of Otago, is a three year full-time clinical degree course (in OMS this is run part-time over five years) which holders can use as basic specialty training towards becoming Orthodontists, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, Periodontists, Prosthodontists and Pedodontists. The appendage “OMS” specifically refers to the clinical programme being conducted in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. The degree is now effectively replaced by the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry qualification.

To avoid existing confusion amongst the various Australasian Master's degree specialist and non-specialist programmes, the three year Master's clinical programmes have largely been superceded and replaced by the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry qualification at the University of Melbourne and University of Adelaide. Both of these universities no longer train Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (this training is now wholly conducted through the Division of OMS within the RACDS).

The Master of Dental Science (MDSc) at the University of Sydney (although no longer offered in OMS), and the older MDSc programmes from both Melbourne and Adelaide, are considered the equivalent of the University of Otago Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) degree in OMS.

The University of Sydney also used to offer a one year (non-clinical) Master of Dental Surgery (MDS Syd.) based wholly on literature research. This has now largely been replaced by the Master of Philosophy (in Dentistry). Neither the MDS (Syd.) or M.Ph il. (Syd.) are regarded as either specialist degrees or clinical degrees.

The confusion between the three-year clinical MDS (Otago) and one-year non-clinical MDS degrees (Sydney) has often lead to practitioners inappropriately obtaining specialist registration status when only holding a one year degree and no formal clinical specialty training at all.

Post-graduate dental qualifications are confusing, and most do not qualify the holder to any form of specialist description. The reader is directed to the various State Dental boards (e.g. NSW Dental Board) or universities for information on the nature of individual bona fides and the nature of qualifications.

                 

FDSRCS a.e. England

Fellowship in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons Ad Eundem England

The Fellowship in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons in England is a non defunct Dental postgraduate (non-specialist) professional qualification, and is no longer offered by examination of the college. Practitioners who pass their specialist or general examinations within the Dental Faculty are given the title of "Member" and not "Fellow".

When "ad eundem" is added, it is meant to imply an honarary degree. It is an award based solely on ones specialist qualifications and career achievements to date, and is aimed at rewarding the practitioner by naming him a Fellow of the College. Approximately 5-7 ad eundem awards are given each year on the anniversary of the Colleges founding in July, and only to National and International dental professionals of repute and standing. Other UK based College's also award the title "Fellow" to "Members" who have been seen to have been of higher standing than their "member" peers.

FRACDS OMS

Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons in the specialist field of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

This is the ultimate qualification for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, and represents the pinnacle of achievement and training in the specialty. Only holders of the specific letters of “FRACDS OMS” are entitled to full Medicare specialty privileges in Australia for OMS.

Applicants for the examination leading to the FRACDS OMS must be holders of both the MB ChB and BDS degrees, and have undergone four years of formal and approved clinical training in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. The qualification emulates the FRACS qualification for other surgical sub-specialties within medicine and surgery (such as general surgery, orthopedic surgery, cardio-thoracic surgery etc), and closely follows European, and US/Canadian training programmes in the specialty.

Older practitioners who do not hold a medical degree are entitled to obtain Federal Medicare “Approved Dental Specialist” status with Medicare.

Newer graduates who are dually qualified in both Medicine and Dentistry, can use the FRACDS OMS qualification to become registered as a medical specialist, in addition to the “dental specialist” assessment.

The UK equivalent to the FRACDS (OMS) is the FRCS(OMS) qualification (from the individual colleges of England, Ireland or Edinburgh).

The US or Canadian equivalents are the Dip. American Board OMS and the Fellow Royal College Dentists in OMS (FRCD (C) OMS) qualifications.

A little bit about fellowships in General Dentistry

The RACDS also offers the “general” dentistry fellowship which is given the letters "FRACDS". Holders of the FRACDS are general dentists only, and the qualification FRACDS (without a following description) is not a specialist one.

The general FRACDS implies a higher standing within general dentistry, and is based on successful pass of theoretical examination within areas of general dentistry only. Some grand-fathered oral surgeons falsely claim this qualification to be a specialist one.

These colleges also have separate faculties in Dentistry, & who also provide their own fellowships in general dentistry (FFD RCS Ire., FDS RCS Ed., FDSRCS Eng., etc.), but which qualifications are considered general dentistry only (they are not specialist). Some grand-fathered oral surgeons sadly & falsely claim them to be specialist qualifications.

AMA

The Australian Medical Association

This is the peak representative medical representation body for all medical practitioners in Australia. Only registered medical practitioners can be full members of the AMA

ADA

The Australian Dental Association

This is the peak representative dental representation body for all dental practitioners in Australia. Only registered dental practitioners can be full members of the ADA

ANZAOMS

The Australian and New Zealand Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons

This is the peak representative body of Australian and New Zealand Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Full membership is only offered to holders of the FRACDS OMS.