Expert: Drew Wilmoth - 4/26/2009

Question
Hello

I am a 32 year old foreign trained dentist from a well known SOUTH AFRICAN
dental university from Cape Town,South Africa.
I have 10 years experience in both the public and private sector and is
competent in many general aspects of dentistry especially aesthetics.
With the booming Implantology sphere,I may also want to explore doing
some Implantology courses time permitting.
What are the steps to be followed to determine whether I would be able to
practice as a dentist in The Cayman Islands? For nearly 4 years cumulatively,I
have also worked in The Netherlands encompassing nearly all aspects of
dentistry.

Waiting anxiously for your feedback

Orren Truter

The Hague,The Netherlands

Answer
Health care practitioners must become licensed through the appropriate council of the Cayman Health Practice Commission. For dentists that would be The Medical and Dental Council. They can be reached at Tel: +1-345-949-2813 Fax: +1-345-946-2845 for inquiries about the licensing process.

The Cayman Islands has many foreign workers in all sectors of the workforce. In practice, any prospective employer can guide you through the process of acquiring the necessary work visa and any professional licenses.

In Cayman, the government operates a Dental Clinic as a part of the Health Services Authority. Full and free general dental care is provided as a standard benefit to government employees. More extensive work or cosmetic dentistry may not be a fully covered benefit. The Health Services Authority has recently acquired the private practice of a retiring local dentist and is using that new facility to provide more fee for service care.

There are also many other private dental practices in Cayman with some advertising cosmetic procedures.

All employers, both government and private sector, must advertise any available jobs before they could be offered to any expatriate. You may check on the website of the Health Services Authority www.hsa.ky for currently available positions within the government clinic. Private practices will advertise available positions in the Caymanian Compass or Cayman Net News newspapers.

I am not aware of any dental school in Cayman, so I am unclear how you could best pursue further education.