Glasgow dental school short of patients
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- Published: Tuesday, 21 January 2014 07:37
- Written by News Editor
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The Scottish newspaper, The Herald, has reported that without more patients to practise on, dental students in Glasgow are at risk of falling behind on the number of hours practise they are required to undertake for their degree. This has not, however, been confirmed by the University of Glasgow.
The Herald was told by a third year student who wishes to remain anonymous: ‘At the end of the fifth year, if you haven't completed enough procedures and therefore gained enough ReCAF points, you cannot qualify as a professional dentist. There is nothing you can do about this if you don't have patients. I think people in Glasgow should be made more aware of the free dental care we provide at the school. It benefits them and us.’
The dental school says it advertises for patients to receive free treatment from students around once a year. A spokesman from Glasgow University said: "People are able to go on to the University of Glasgow website where they can find more information about signing up for free treatment with our dental students."
However, students do not feel this is providing enough patients. A fifth-year dental student, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: "I found myself in this situation when I had to carry out root canal treatment on a patient and unfortunately there weren't any available patients needing it performed. If given enough notice, patients can be sourced by the school for students. However, it seems strange that patients aren't queuing out the door for free health care, especially given the state of Glasgow's oral health records."
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