Dundee and St Andrews Dental Alumnus Society

Dentistry in the Amazonian Jungle by Shona M.C. Mason

Have you ever dreamed of doing something different with your dental skills? Dreamed of going away on some adventure where you could really make a difference? It doesen't have to be a dream. There is a Scottish based charity called The Vine Trust (www.vinetrust.org) which works alongside SU Peru primarily to provide care of a very practical nature to the thousands of abandoned street boys existing in the cities of Peru. A recent development of this collaboration is the provision of medical and dental care to some of the most remote and impoverished people in the world. Two ex naval tenders have been converted to medical ships, sailed across the Atlantic and up the 3000 miles of the Amazon River through Brazil & into Iquitos, the capital of Peruvian Amazonia. From here the ships sail up the tributaries of the Amazon to serve villages in the jungle, only accessible by boat. Each month the project needs a team of volunteers doctors, dentists, nurses, dental nurses and other health care workers to give two weeks of their time to go out to work alongside the Peruvian medical team on one of the boats. For the dentists the work is hard-extractions and basic cons all day every day. Your surgery is on the boat, you berth at the villages, sail along the Amazon looking for parrots, toucans, alligators and pink river dolphins, you meet amazing people, you help meet a great need.

Please consider taking part in this project. Ask around you will likely find someone who has heard of it, or even been part of it. I've been twice and am going again in June 2008. 2 4th year students used this as part of their elective, and NES Remote & Rural student Dr Simon Shepherd, and Professor Graham Ogden have also taken part. Check the website. Go on. It's no holiday, but it is an experience which will make a difference.