Will too many dental students go to Auckland?

WE’RE proud of the University of Otago, and pleased that we have retained the only dental school in

New Zealand in our city.

The new building extension is due for completion next year and there will be an increased number of dentists being trained — possibly up to 140 will graduate each year.

The Dental School has 60 places for New Zealand citizens to study, paying subsidised fees of $17,000 per year. This number will remain the same when the intake is increased.

The remaining 80 students will pay $95,000 per year for five years’ training. The likelihood is that these will be international students. This is wonderful for the university’s finances, but will it benefit the people of Dunedin and New Zealand?

There are insufficient people in Dunedin for the projected 560 students (140 in each of the four clinical years) to gain the required clinical experience, so a clinical centre is being built in Manukau for 40 finalyear students.

Is this the thin end of the wedge? Will there be a gradual expansion of this facility until a significant number of the more experienced students are located in Auckland?

What is the future of the 80 annual international students? This depends on immigration rules, and whether those people can find a niche in rural New Zealand — Gore or Winton, Tokoroa or Whangarei.

Dental care is a very personal interaction. Is there going to be a good cultural fit between the service provider and the local community? Jocelyn Scott

Mosgiel

Hands off our cats

LIKE the anticat Morgan Foundation, more than a flea in the ear was the Newstalk ZB nighttime host who, after provoking discussion and refusing to engage with a caller who suggested his attitude was on the same path of species persecution as the foundation, then broadcast a text message on how to poison these worthy feline contributors to ecology. R.S. Hogan

Waikouaiti