Ashly Dhani
Tendai Chara
A raft of measures, chief among them making the dental surgeon assistants national diploma examinable under the Higher Education Examination Council (Hexco), are being worked upon as efforts to professionalise the work of dental surgery assistants gathers momentum.
The national diploma in dental surgery assistant is the first programme offering a structured and formal training for dental surgery assistants and nurses in the country.
Before the introduction of this training programme, dental surgery assistants had no formal training and mainly received on-the-job training.
The setting up of the Zimbabwe Academy of Dental Nurses (ZADENU), which was the brainchild of a group of dentists and dental therapists, has revolutionalised this noble but previously ignored profession.
With the inaugural ZADENU graduation ceremony, where 21 dental surgeon assistants attained national diplomas being held in Harare last year, efforts to formalise this profession have gone a gear up.
Dr Farayi Moyana, the director of ZADENU, told Sunday Mail Online that a number of proposals that will go a long way in professionalising the work of dental surgery assistants have been tabled before the relevant authorities.
“First and foremost, we would want to have the diploma that we are offering made examinable under HEXCO. Secondly, we recently approached the Medical Dental Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe with a request to have the work of dental surgery assistants registered and regularised,” Dr Moyana said.
Dr Moyana said dental surgery assistants are being prejudiced due to the fact that their work is not viewed as a profession.
“Dental surgery assistants are professionals just like pharmacy technicians, hospital nurses and environmental health technicians. Without formal training, dental surgery assistants are often grouped under low employed grades. Professionalising their trade will address this anomaly,” Dr Moyana said.
Online Reporter