Dental Nurses Allowed to Run Private Clinics

It is no secret that dentists and doctors are put under a tremendous amount of stress each and every day. Nonetheless, these staunch professionals manage to maintain their cool, while plying their trade and satisfying their patients. Over the past few years, dentists and doctors have found themselves in an unfavorable situation and they’ve decided to take a stand. This is evident within Cambodia, where hundreds of dentists and dental students have flooded the streets in protest. The group is protesting a recent ruling by the Health Ministry that allows dental nurses to run private clinics on their own.

In general, dental nurses are only required to undergo three years of schooling. Many of the protesters insist that three years simply isn’t enough and that nurses should be required to obtain additional education, before being allowed to run a private clinic. According to some of the protesters, their top priority is to protect the people’s health, while ensuring they receive service from the most skilled professionals. Just days ago, the protesters delivered a petition to the government. That petition had been signed by more than one-thousand practicing and soon-to-be dentists.

As The Super Dentists suggest, patients are put in a risky situation when they’re treated by unskilled workers. Nonetheless, some experts believe that the Health Ministry made the right decision. Dental nurses are not specifically trained for surgical procedures, crowns or bridges. Nonetheless, they can perform many other tasks. And therefore, they may be able to fill the gaps in portions of the country, where other dentists tend to avoid. Nonetheless, the Cambodia Dental Association, CDA, has refused to accept the ruling. They have vowed to continue protesting the ruling, until it is officially overturned by the Health Ministry.

Only time will tell whether or not the Health Ministry will cave into their demands. For most medical professionals, the most rewarding aspect of working in their respective field is that they are offered unique and flexible ways to help individuals every day. However, each medical professional does have his or her own set of goals that they want to achieve throughout their careers. Many doctors want to branch off own their own and open up their own practices. With this in mind, it is entirely understandable that dental nurses would strive for this common goal. Whether or not they’ll be allowed to keep it remains to be seen.

Young Doctors Association YDA

Young Doctors Association (YDA) is actively protesting for the rights of patients visiting public hospitals and against the Central Induction Policy. The association is made up of newly graduated physicians and dentists, leaving the veteran medical professionals picking up the slack. The YDA is concerned about the lack of medicine being provided to patients that seek treatment at public hospitals. These patients are also limited access to other facilities that could potentially improve their health crisis. While there are development projects underway to curtail these issues, the YDA recommends early completion of these projects. Three such development projects include the dental institute at Jubilee Town, surgical tower at Mayo and radiology tower at Services.

The major problem with these protests, it leaves the outpatient departments of all the top hospitals in Punjab partially open. This leaves the veteran physicians and dentists to pick up the slack and it also scares off the patients. The YDA activists are diligent about getting their point across, even getting hostile at times. The patients started leaving, before they were examined.