In order to view the entirety of this content you will need to enable Javascript. You can do this in your browser settings.
Pre-Dentistry Work Experience
Our pre-dental work experience placements offer a unique, first-hand insight into clinical dentistry for students with a keen interest in the profession. They are ideal for Year 12/13 students as well as those on a gap year, studying related degree courses (such as biomedical sciences) or in the pre-clinical years of dental school.
Good supervision is crucial, and in the hospital you’ll be assigned a specific dentist as your personal mentor. You'll also receive introductory clinical teaching to help you understand and interpret the cases you observe, either in small classroom sessions or on-the-go during surgeries depending on patient volumes.
Working hours vary depending on the department’s daily workload, but typically you’ll be with your mentor in clinic from about 8:30am to 1:30pm, with the opportunity to continue longer when particular surgeries are going on.
Most students join us for two weeks, but our placements are available from one week to a month or more. As long as we have space on the programme, you can start and finish whenever you want, 52 weeks of the year. The type of dentistry unit you work in and the kind of cases you see varies between our destinations, so if you have specific interests we recommend talking to one of the Project Advisors in our UK office before choosing where you go.
Undertaking dentistry work experience abroad not only allows you to experience interesting exotic dental cases, it helps you to appreciate the diversity in healthcare provision around the world and see first hand the ethical dilemmas dentists and other healthcare professionals in these countries face every day. It also – of course – turns a couple of weeks’ dental work experience into the adventure of a lifetime!
Weekends are free time, and students usually make the most of this to go travelling with fellow students from the Gap Medics house: Wildlife safaris in Africa, Caribbean beaches, diving in Thailand or camel trekking in India… the choice is yours.
Supporting our hospitals
As part of our detailed partnership agreements, we pay our hospitals for every student we place to ensure everyone benefits from the programme and staff remain motivated. On average, around 10% of the total you pay goes directly to the hospital.
Gap Medics Houses
Live together with other pre-healthcare students from around the world in one of our own Gap Medics houses
Placements
“The dentist I shadowed was Dr Grace Paul, an amazing woman who I grew very fond of… I got a real insight into dental practice in Africa and I got to observe procedures that I would never have been able to see at home.”