Dental Electives

Our dental student elective placements offer unique opportunities for clinical experience and community outreach work. They also meet the requirements of most British dentistry schools, and give you:

The focus of all our dental elective placements, whether outreach or hospital based, is to provide an intensive experience. With most electives lasting only 2-3 weeks, it’s important to get as much insight and clinical experience as possible in a short period of time – so having our staff teams prepare the placement before your arrival allows you to get straight into it from day one.

Because we guarantee all our placements, you also have the peace of mind that your elective is confirmed from the time of booking.

Hospital & Clinic Based Placements

Our partner hospitals and clinics in each destination are carefully chosen to offer good opportunities for clinical experience. We have partnerships in all destinations; both with large hospitals and small private or charity-run clinics, allowing us to tailor placements based on individual requirements. Most students come to us wanting a general experience of dentistry in a particular country, but we also have some specialist placements available, such as in oral cancer centres or maxillofacial surgery.

Dental Outreach Projects

As well as individual elective placements, we run our own Dental Outreach Projects to offer a different kind of student experience. Our Ghana project offers tremendous opportunities for hands-on clinical experience, providing free dental care to rural village communities. In India, we are launching a new project for summer 2008, combining community outreach work with oral hygiene education and experience of specialist centres such as Trivandrum’s Oral Cancer Unit. Read more about our Dental Outreach Projects.

Accommodation & Food

On any of our individual dental placements, you’ll have the benefit of being able to live in one of our Work the World houses. As well as offering secure, comfortable accommodation, living with other undergraduate healthcare students gives you the chance to make new friends and an important escape at the end of a tough day in the hospital. It also means there are people to travel with at weekends and after your placement. We employ a full-time cook for every house, and all your food is included in our package.

Total flexibility

Because every dental student wants something slightly different from their elective, we think it’s important to organise the placement around you, not try to fit you into a standard package. Tell us when you want to start, finish and what you want out of the experience and we’ll do the rest. Our knowledgeable UK staff are happy to speak to you any time on the phone or via email, so please get in touch if you have any questions.

verandah of the Ghana house
Relaxing on the verandah of the Work the World house

Available destinations (Dentistry Electives)

Ghana » clinical settings » more about Ghana
India » clinical settings » more about India
Tanzania » clinical settings » more about Tanzania
Zanzibar » clinical settings » more about Zanzibar

apply online now » contact us »

Case Notes:
Sarah Armstrong (Tanzania 2007)

Sarah Armstrong

Newcastle dental student Sarah undertook her elective in Tanzania with Work the World in the summer of 2007. In an article for dentistry.com she describes her experiences.

» Read Sarah's story...


Photo Gallery

Dr J E Mensah

Dr J E Mensah is one of the dentists who supervises our placements in Ghana

Dentist at SDA Medical Centre in Tanzania examines a patient X-Ray

Dentist at SDA Medical Centre in Tanzania examines a patient X-Ray

Dr Emmanuel Gavua and his team at Effiah Nkwantah Regional Hospital, Ghana

Dr Emmanuel Gavua and his team at Effiah Nkwantah Regional Hospital, Ghana