WORKING WITHIN A REMOTE/RURAL ABORIGINAL HEALTH ORGANISATION – A WAMS TESTIMONIAL

Name: Mark McAfee BDS (Queens University Belfast, graduated in 2003)
Location: Walgett, NSW
As a 26 year old Irish Dentist I decided to take a year out from the
rat race and spend 12 months on a working holiday visa in Australia.
While I enjoy the sites and nightlife of Sydney it was somewhat
hard to come across regular employment which is basically the
same type of work as back in the UK. I was looking for an alternative
and was lucky to fi nd it in the outback of NSW in the picturesque
town of Walgett.
I spent two months (June and July of 2006) working within the
Aboriginal Medical service. They have an excellent, modern up to date
two surgery Dental clinic attached the medical block. I was somewhat
surprised to the standard of equipment and materials available. The
support staff were immensely helpful, friendly and courteous, nearly
all of whom were from the local aboriginal community.
The patients came from various backgrounds in and around the
surrounding districts some coming from nearly 200Kms away. The
need for treatment was consistently high varying from restorative
composites/amalgams to serial extractions and dentures. There is a
lot of attrition/erosion in the area due to high consumption of fi zzy
drinks and citrus fruits, many patients needing composite build ups
or over-dentures. As a sole practitioner I found I quickly became
profi cient in extractions some of which needed surgical invention. It
allowed me to develop and improve these various skills.
Walgett itself has a good sense of community and I was often
greeted by patients while doing my grocery shopping. I was also
asked to a birthday party and met many people I had treated a few
days previously. The nightlife is a little quiet but I was always asked
/ heavily persuaded to any of the social functions. A pub quiz in aid
of the local primary school was an excellent and fun way to catch
up with the rest of the locals, and the “Sporto club” on a Friday night
was a good place to sip on a beer and watch the footy!!
The free accommodation was a well equipped three bedroom house
that would look good in any large town, and the use of a company
car meant I got to travel quite a bit and see the surrounding outback
towns. I got to visit The Opal mining town of Lightening ridge, the
cotton production in Narromine, the open plain zoo in Dubbo, and
there is some excellent hiking in the Warrumbungle national park
which I went to on a few visits.
All in all it was an excellent experience and the Aussie folks in outback
NSW will certainly make you feel welcome and encourage you to stay
longer, if the opportunity arrises it’s a must to.
If you are interested in having an experience like this in australia
contact Australian Dentist Job Search. Read The Original Article (PDF)