As the 2012 academic year draws to a close, Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange is just 12 months away from a landmark moment in rural health.

 

Next year will see the University's first Bachelor of Dental Science students graduate from the five year degree and take up roles in the Orange region and further afield.

 

CSU School of Dentistry and Health Sciences clinical director Dr Heather Cameron said it was the continued support of dentists in Bathurst and Orange that allowed the University to offer the course and help address the lack of access to dental care in rural areas.

 

"We get a lot of support from dentists in private practices in Orange and Bathurst who come in to tutor the students," Dr Cameron said.

 

"About 70 per cent of all the dentists in Orange are involved in one way or another and we really couldn’t run the course without their support.

 

"The School has also had great support from dentists in other regional centres such as Young, Taree and Canberra, and from dentists in Wagga, Albury, Wodonga and Dubbo who provide assistance when students are on placements.

 

"There is a long-standing need for more dentists in rural towns and regional centres like these, and more than half of our students have indicated they are interested in taking up work in rural areas after they graduate, which will certainly help address that need."

 

Orange dentist Dr Tim McAnulty has been involved with the CSU Bachelor of Dental Science program since its inception in 2009 and said he found it to be a satisfying way to contribute to his profession and community.

 

"I finished high school in Gilgandra and had to travel to Sydney to study dentistry at university," he said.

 

"It was, and still is, very difficult for country kids to be able to study dentistry in Sydney for a number of reasons but a dentistry school in Orange is something you couldn’t have dreamed of 10 years ago.

 

"Finding dentists to service rural areas has been a challenge before Charles Sturt University came along and I think those of us already practicing in Orange and Bathurst see the course as being very important to providing dental training in regional areas.

 

"We enjoy interacting with the students, we learn from them as much as they learn from us, and I find tutoring really keeps me on my toes because I have to be across all the latest developments to answer the curly questions.

 

"I'm very impressed with what the University’s School of Dentistry and Health Sciences and its staff are doing, and it will be very exciting when these current fourth-year students graduate next year."