Dental students have slammed an “unacceptable and almost insulting” practice that recently saw non-EU dentists being hired at Mater Dei Hospital without having to go through a traditional vetting procedure.
Non-EU nationals are no longer being asked to sit for an exam to assess their skills and ascertain they are safe to work on patients before being warranted.
By contrast, students said they themselves were required to go through exams that served as “checkpoints with stringent requirements” to ensure they were fully capable as graduated dentists.
“As warranted dentists, we represent the dental profession and the subsequent level of care we provide. It is unacceptable and almost insulting that foreign qualifications go unchecked by local standards, thus running the risk of inferior treatment and the burden on local dentists due to repercussions which follow,” said a spokesperson for the Malta Association of Dental Students.
Dental surgeons are granted a warrant to work in Malta following the approval of at least two out of three dental representatives on the Malta Medical Council. Their recommendation is then sent to the President of the Republic, who, in turn, issues the warrant.
Qualifications across the EU are harmonised and recognised across the bloc, meaning the council just needs to verify the qualification and issue the recommendation to the president.
When it comes to non-EU graduates, the candidates are asked to sit for a theory and practical exam that University of Malta Master of Dental Surgery students also sit for. On at least three occasions in recent weeks, non-EU nationals have been listed on the Healthcare Professions’ Act Medical Council Dental Register – Temporary list without sitting for an exam that UM students also sit for.
Dentists who raised concern about the “highly unsafe” practice believe this “fast-tracking” is being done to fill gaps in the public sector, where there is a shortage of dentists. The health ministry had, however, told Times of Malta that the dental course remained the only one within the health science sector, to enforce numerus clausus, limiting the number of new graduates.
When contacted, a UM spokesperson clarified that the university also imposed a limit on the number of students admitted to other programmes such as physiotherapy, podiatry, midwifery and occupational therapy.
The dental course remained the only one within the health science sector, to enforce numerus clausus, limiting the number of new graduates- Health Ministry
Capping was necessary to ensure that students had access to all necessary resources (especially clinical) made available to the university. In the absence of such capping, the quality and standard of these professionally oriented courses would ultimately be jeopardised.
Over the past five years, 47 dentists graduated from the university, together with an additional 76 students who successfully completed a programme of study offered by the faculty.
As of October 2018, the maximum number of students increased from 15 to 20 per year. In 2011, the intake stood at six, with the number increased gradually as the facilities available to the Faculty of Dental Surgery improved.
“Any increases in student numbers will have to be supported with a direct investment in the infrastructure and associated facilities and complemented with appropriate human resources,” the spokesperson added.
‘Regulator should uphold standards and safeguard profession’
The faculty provided students with an education in line with European directives and European Association of Dental Educators guidelines.
It is the Medical Council that regulates the profession, and as the regulator, it sub-contracts UM to organise the statutory examinations for non-EU professionals.
“These examinations are one of the plausible entry routes in the profession. The examinations are a replica of the theoretical and practical assessments that UM students are expected to undergo and pass successfully prior to completion of the course. One would expect that the regulator upholds these standards and safeguards the profession,” the spokesperson said.
Dentists have linked the shortage at Mater Dei to lack of interest by local graduates in working within the public sector in the absence of an attractive career progression and pay.
Dentists have linked the shortage at Mater Dei to lack of interest by local graduates in working within the public sector in the absence of an attractive career progression and pay
According to feedback that the students’ association received from former students, a “poor salary” remained a salient point, while working conditions at Mater Dei were not ideal.
Within private practice, associates were at more liberty to set their working hours and dentists were allowed an environment more conducive to their preferred method of working, such as the availability of particular materials and technologies, a spokesperson said.
“Our training as students encompasses modern dentistry, including innovative technology, enabling treatment options that may allow for greater efficiency, diversity of options and precision.
"The public sector lacks such up-to-date equipment, posing limitations on the treatment options provided. This limits our growth as developing professionals, as techniques learnt during our training are seldom replicated in the public sector.”
The association said that additionally, there were only two postgraduate specialty training courses, often leaving students with no option but to pursue studies overseas.