The Head of Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) School of Dentistry and Health Sciences, Professor David Wilson, has welcomed comments from rural health experts endorsing the University’s approach to training rural dentists.

 

Professor Wilson said the comments, in a submission from the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) to a parliamentary inquiry into adult dental services in Australia, recognised the potential contribution the program could make to rural health services.

 

“The Charles Sturt University dentistry program was created in collaboration with rural dental health experts, and with the help of the wider profession, and we are preparing for the graduation of the first cohort of qualified dentists at the end of this year,” he said.

 

“The program is designed to encourage and support rural students take up a career in dentistry, with the hope they will go on to long and successful careers working in rural and regional areas.

 

“Australians living in rural areas deserve the same access to dental health services as people living in the cities. Charles Sturt University looks forward to seeing this year’s crop of graduating dentists, and future graduating classes, play their part in ensuring the health and wellbeing of our rural communities.”

 

The submission urged the government to “maintain and support” university dental programs for rural students, and said undergraduate dentistry courses delivered from regional campuses, such as the CSU program, were critical to addressing the shortage of dentists willing to work in rural areas.

 

“Anecdotal evidence…suggests that many rural and regional students in NSW do not wish to study in Sydney and that students who have only ever lived in Sydney are not interested in relocating to work in rural and regional areas,” the submission said.

 

“Whilst the first cohort of dentistry students will not graduate from Charles Sturt University until the end of this year, it has already been seen through the [University’s] Bachelor of Oral Health program that graduates are choosing rural and regional employment as their first choice, with many graduates being from a rural background.”

 

The submission also highlighted the contributions made by students working in university clinics such as the CSU dental clinics in Orange, Dubbo, Bathurst, Albury-Wodonga and Wagga Wagga, but said community access was hampered by the lack of Medicare rebates for student-delivered services.

 

The parliamentary inquiry will inform the National Partnership Agreement, effective from July 1 next year, which will be a significant component of the government’s Dental Care Reform Package.

 

The terms of reference include the availability and affordability of dental services for people in rural and remote areas, demand and waiting lists for dental services, and the mix and coverage of existing dental services.

 

CSU in Dubbo will host the last of the inquiry’s three public hearings at its Dental and Oral Health Clinic on Friday 17 May, and a report is due to be tabled in parliament later this year.