DentaltownUK July 2018 - 54

My Indian
Elective
Dr Kishan Sheth and friends travel to India
for their dental elective project
by Dr Kishan Sheth
Dr Kishan Sheth recently
graduated from KCL
as a runner up for the
prestigious Jose Souyave
Prize and will embark on
his vocational training in
Sussex. He has become
the most recent and
youngest Honorary Editor
of DentaltownUK.

SUMMER 2018 // dentaltownuk.com

On a rainy July afternoon, my five
friends-Sahil, Aditi, Hemel, Sagar and
Devin-and I discussed the final plans for
our elective to India the following day.
Each of them had vivid memories of past
visits to India but this trip would be my first.
I was excited and nervous at the same time.
Both my parents originate from Gujarat,
Western India. I was looking forward to
seeing the country firsthand but knew that it
would be hugely different than the privileged
country where I had been raised.
The aims of our elective trip were to learn
more about the departments of restorative,
paediatric dentistry, orthodontics, periodontology, oral medicine, oral surgery and dental
public health in D.Y. Patil Dental College,
Pune. We were also keen to discover more
about the oral health challenges that India
has, compared with the UK.
We landed in Pune on the evening of
the 29th July. The streets were quiet and the
poorly lit tarmac and lack of pavements on
the side of the road were a surprise. I've been
to many countries where poverty levels are
high, but the real India was far from what
I'd imagined. It was nothing like the images
that my parents painted in my head through
their childhood stories.
Our f irst week wa s spent at t he

D.Y. Patil Dental College, Pune. We were
amazed by how little clinical experience that
students seemed to have before graduation,
compared with students in the UK. Finalyear students had not covered endodontics,
crown preparations, bridge preparations or
fabrication of partial dentures to the same
extent as we had at KCL. Instead, they were
doing extractions, restorative work and
periodontology. The former areas, which are
covered under the BDS UK undergraduate
programmes, were seen to be 'complex' or
at specialist levels, and therefore not covered
by undergraduates. It was no wonder so
many students specialised straight out of
dental school!
A few students were lucky in that their
tutor may have supervised them with a more
complex case; however, it seemed that there
was an unregulated and unstandardised
educational system in place.
A major shock was the lack of infection
control processes. Watches and hats could
be worn in clinic, as could sandals, plimsolls
and skirts. Hair need not be tied back, shoes
need not be fully covering the feet and barrier
wrap was not a necessity. In the UK it's drilled
into students that it is vital to barrier-wrap
high-risk zone equipment such as the bracket
table, light handles, instrument handpieces

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DentaltownUK July 2018