This weekend we’ll be interviewing students from Kings who want to take part in our first ever elective pilot in December.
The pilot is a partnership with Henry Schein Minerva who are helping us to promote the programme, running the UK end of recruitment and providing some sponsorship to help the lucky 4 students make their way to East Africa.
We’ve never offered electives before (apart from a great trio from Bristol who came in the very early days), so why are we starting now?
I’ve always been a great believer that values are set early on in a career. We talk to a lot of dentists who wanted to get involved in charity work at the beginning of their careers, but somehow that all got put on the back burner once they started work. The experiences people have overseas while at dental school, whether positive or negative, seem to shape that. We want to have a positive influence, and give students a high quality, worthwhile and rewarding experience first up.
That’s why we are starting an elective programme.
There will be more details of the 2012 programme in the autumn, so if you’re a dental student, make sure you are on our mailing list to be sure to receive details.
What can you expect?
B2A electives will not be run of the mill. We’re putting together a programme that will have all the hallmarks of our other work:
- We’ll demand a high level of professionalism from our students – and you can expect the same from us
- It will be hard work – don’t expect to be lying by a pool
- Everything you do will be to the highest ethical standards, both in dental and development terms
- The work you do will be contributing to something sustainable – this value underpins everything we do
- The programme elements will be appropriate – both to the student and the people they will be working with
- Fun – we like to enjoy ourselves even though it’s serious work that we do here – you will too.
You can expect to learn a lot, have your assumptions rigorously challenged in a safe environment, and come home with a line on your CV that will be of great value.
The full programme starts in summer 2012, and there will be more details on exactly what the students will do whilst with us published later in the year. If you are at one of the dental schools that has signed up to be part of the 2012 programme – we’ll look forward to receiving your application.
Make it a good one! Spaces will be very limited and we anticipate competition for places will be high.
Mark
