Practicum to accompany a traveling dental clinic to a remote island
Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences
Advanced Therapeutics Course Oral and Maxillofacial Rehabilitation
Kagoshima University Hospital
Adult Dentistry Center, Department of Crown and Bridge
Professor
MINAMI Hiroyuki
*All dentists with teaching certification in charge
Background and objectives of activities
As a project of Kagoshima Prefecture, the Remote Islands Dental Touring Clinic is being implemented for 11 islands in the prefecture that have no dental practitioners. The project is entrusted to the Kagoshima Dental Association, and the Kagoshima University Faculty of Dentistry dispatches many dentists to the islands in response to the request.
Summary of Activities
Traveling clinic teams consist of dentists, employees of the prefectural dental association, and dental hygienists. They travel by ferry for 4 to 12 hours to the destination island with a mobile clinic vehicle, portable clinic unit, and various equipment and medicines. The students accompany the medical team, carrying supplies, setting up the medical treatment system, and observing and assisting with medical treatment. At the same time, they communicate with the islanders.
Expected Benefits
Participating students experience the dental practice on a remote island with no dentist, understand the medical environment of the island with no dentist, and realize that people have an equal right to receive medical care no matter where they live, and that medical personnel have an equal obligation to provide medical care. It is also an opportunity to motivate research on measures and equipment development to realize these goals.