Dental outreach in India

This two-week project takes a team of elective students to a rural village in the lush, green hills of the Western Ghats. Working from a temporary dental clinic in the village school, we conduct a screening programme, offering free treatment for a community that otherwise has little or no access to dental health care. This is our best opportunity to gain hands-on clinical experience in India as much of the treatment work will be carried out by the students.

Project Itinerary

On the first day you will travel out to the village for a full orientation led by Work the World staff. This is followed by a traditional welcome from the villagers and the inauguration of the project by the Panchayat President (a local community leader).

The project work begins with a screening programme in a temporary clinic we will establish in the village. Our focus is on check-ups for primary school children, but we also have a screening day open to anyone from the community complaining of dental problems. Any of those screened who require clinical treatment (and this can be as many as 60%) are referred for free treatment.

After several days' screening (the exact timetable has to depend on how many patients need referring each day), the team begin the treatments at a clinic set up in the village.

Supervision & clinical experience

While Work the World organises all the logistics of the project, responsibility for clinical supervision lies with Dr Smitha, the highly respected Chief Dentist at Amrita Dental Clinic. Working with another qualified dentist to assist with difficult or unusual cases, Dr Smitha will be on hand at all times to support and oversee all of our students undertaking patient treatment. There will also be a couple of dental assistants who will be on hand for support.

The idea of this project is to have elective students carry out as much of the clinical work as possible, so the opportunities for gaining hands-on experience are substantially greater than with an elective attachment to a dental clinic in India. However, as with all our placements, what your supervisor allows you to do will depend on the level of trust and respect you can earn by demonstrating your abilities and confidence.

Accommodation & food

Accommodation for the duration of the project is in local home that we have rented for the duration of the project. Rooms are typically shared with one or two other students, and the large communal living areas make for a fantastic social atmosphere and somewhere to wind down after the day's work.

Most of your meals are provided by our full-time cook at the house, and are a mixture of typical south Indian and more international dishes (we always offer a vegetarian option). Lunch will be arranged for the team at a local eatery in the village.

Dates

Dental Outreach projects run during the summer months and all dates are listed in the "project dates" box.

Please note that places for this project are limited and fill up early. If you would like to discuss organising a project on another date, and have a few friends interested in joining you, we are always happy to look into setting up new projects