Grampians Health opens dental school in Horsham
13 June 2023
Grampians Health has established a dental school program in Horsham to provide additional support to local residents that require dentistry services.
The opening of the school aims to strengthen rural dentistry services and address the growing demand for oral healthcare in our region.
Grampians Health currently operates a successful dental school in Ballarat, providing fourth and fifth-year students to actively participate in dental treatment services. Building on this success, Grampians Health has extended the dental school program into Horsham.
The Horsham dental school program involves the placement of fifth-year dental students for a period of four to six weeks. The rotation of students between the campuses of Grampians Health Horsham and Ballarat provides a sustainable student workforce into our region. Under the program four students attend the Horsham dental campus at any given time, working along side and under the supervision of qualified dentists and dental school teachers.
“The establishment of the dental school in Horsham assists us in providing much-needed services in our region,” said Jacqui Nolan, Grampians Health Dental Services Program Manager.
“By providing the Horsham based educational opportunity, Grampians Health not only exposes students to a unique rural lifestyle but also facilitates an expansion in the provision of public funded dental services in the Horsham region.”
One of the notable achievements of the Horsham dental school program is the increased number of patients seen on a daily basis in addition to the introduction of the emergency dental care program.
Under this initiative, patients are promptly triaged and depending on the severity of their dental issue are promptly scheduled between appointments or where a cancellation has occurred.
Grampians Health’s Horsham dental service has received positive feedback in regards to an increase in accessibility and the high quality of care provided.
“The introduction of the emergency dental program assists in addressing the urgent oral health needs of the local community in addition to contributing to the development of our future dental professionals,” Ms Nolan said.