MOH Postgraduate Training Scholarships In Paediatric Dentistry and Geriatric/Special Needs Dentistry

23 Apr 2008

From 2008, the Ministry of Health will be offering 6 scholarships per year to dental officers to pursue a 3-year postgraduate programme in Paediatric Dentistry or Geriatric and Special Needs Dentistry at renowned overseas centres of excellence.

These scholarships will help increase the much needed specialised dental manpower in these two areas. Presently, there are 20 Paediatric dentists. There are none trained in Geriatrics and Special Needs Dentistry. This is a relatively new dental discipline with few schools internationally conducting courses in them. With sufficient core numbers, we intend to make it a specialty and be one of the first in the region to have experts in this field.

The projected growth of returning experts from these Paediatric dentistry and Geriatric and Special Needs dentistry will be about 1 to 2 per year, till 2020.

Beyond the general scope of dentistry, Paediatric dentists are trained to work with difficult children through a more comprehensive patient management and educational approach. These dentists are needed to guide the development of optimal oral health care as well as dental education for our children and adolescents.

With an aging population, there will also be greater demand for specialists trained in Geriatric and Special Needs Dentistry. Equipped with skills to take care of the elderly, including the medically compromised who may be engaged in post-cancer therapy, kidney dialysis as well as numerous other age related illnesses, these dentists will be better able to provide safe, effective and appropriate dental treatment for our rapidly ageing population as well as our adult special needs population.

Dental officers who would like to apply for these scholarships can do so through their institutions.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

23 April 2008