Our pre-dentistry program targets students with a serious and documented interest in healthcare in general and dentistry in particular. Applicants can either be college students looking to join dental school or are already in a pre-dentistry program and are looking for an opportunity for some hands on experience and volunteering. There is high need for oral health care awareness and education amongst the communities that we have worked in. Check out our blogs and testimonials for the different learning experiences by our past students. We have programs in Kenya and Tanzania.

The program integrates various learning components such as:

• Hospital volunteering shadowing doctors and observing procedures
• Students encouraged to participate in group discussions, case presentation and teach?in conferences
• Community volunteer work

 Just like any other of our other programs we encourage students to be proactive, be ready to assist with even small tasks, to spend time at the dental clinic so as to get most of your experience and to ask as many relevant questions.

The program is unique because it introduces various clinical skills and allows participants to observe procedures in a way that is rarely available to pre-dental students. Shadowing dentists, participants will be introduced to skills and procedures including:

• History taking and examination
• Case management
• Outpatient clinics
• Cleaning of teeth
• Scaling
• Routine check?ups and general dental care
• Intra oral radiographs
• Minor procedures
• Permanent and temporary fillings
• Composite restorations
• Tooth extractions, incision and drainage
• Treatment of gum diseases
• Root canal treatment
• Bridges, dental veneers and crowns
• Aesthetic dentistry
• Cosmetics, and maxillofacial procedures

Those taking part in dental outreach volunteering will participate in management of dental caries and periodontal disease in primary school children during outreach programs.

In addition to hospital volunteering, participants also participate in several community projects.

We also organise for the students safari add ons at the end of the program to parks in either Kenya or Tanzania, including a hike to Mt. Kilimanjaro. See the safari link at http://electiveafrica.com/safari