Internships

I recently met with the assistant Dean at one of the local dental schools in Phnom Penh. He is from New Zealand and he inquired as to whether we might be able to take some of the students on the ship for a type of mini oral surgery internship.
We agreed to give it a try and this week we have our first group aboard. Their names are SoVann and Vet. We had a great time today getting acquainted with each other and finding out what they did and didn’t know. They had both performed about 10 simple extractions so far in school and were eager to get more practical experience. Boy did they come to the right place.
The problem that the school has is that they have to charge the patients for each visit. So many are so poor that the school cannot attract enough patients for the students to learn on. We, of course, have pretty much unlimited access to patients so that is a pretty good fit. SoVann and Vet had some early jitters but soon were in the groove and not only took out many teeth but learned some new local anesthetic techniques. By the end of the week they will practically be Oral Surgeons! At least they will be more confident in their school clinic. I hope I do not teach them too many bad habits! rick