Clinical internship may be reintroduced for Indian dental students
Three years after the mandatory clinical internship was scrapped, the Dental Council of India is considering reintroducing the year-long clinical programme for dental students.
The internship scheme was scrapped as a result of students resorting to dishonest means of securing an internship; some members of the council even admitted that they had no idea whether or not students had actually undertaken the training programme. Dr Mansing Pawar, member of the DCI, said that it was wrong that the lack of monitoring methods should prevent students from undertaking clinical internships. The internship scheme was replaced by a new comprehensive clinical training programme.
The cessation of the internship scheme has had an impact on patient care; many senior students used to double up as interns to provide routine care to patients; however, after the internship scheme was scrapped, the number of students available to help out was considerably lower.
The Dental Council of India met earlier this month to discuss the relaunch of the programme and discuss ways of monitoring the scheme. Many members of the council believe that clinical training is essential and the new clinical training programme is not providing students with the necessary skills and experience they need for their future careers.
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