FEATURE
Bringing their brilliance The IDA has recently launched a campaign to attract more foreign-trained dentists into Ireland. Here, we share the stories of dentists from other countries who have come to Ireland and found success in work and the Irish Dental Association. Dr Amalia Pahomi HSE Dental Surgeon President of HSE Dental Surgeons Group Amalia comes from Târgu Mure, a city in the heart of Transylvania in Romania, and studied dentistry in Cluj-Napoca: “I graduated in 1999 and just a few years later, I came to Ireland. At that time, Romania was not in the EU, so I had to sit the Irish Dental Council examinations for foreign-trained dentists and I got registered with the Dental Council in 2005”. Amalia currently works as a public dental surgeon in Hartstown Health Centre in Dublin 15. She joined the IDA soon after coming to Ireland: “I became a member of the IDA in 2005 as soon as I got registered with the Irish Dental Council. In 2014, my then Principal Dental Surgeon, Dr Jane Renehan, asked me to consider joining the IDA HSE Dental Surgeons Committee and I did”. Now, Amalia has risen through the ranks and is taking on the role of President of the Group at a time when there are serious issues within the public dental service. While HSE dentists who were seconded for Covid duties are now back
at their normal work, the time they spent helping the country out has naturally resulted in delays: “I think the big issue at present is to catch up with the backlog as a result of the pandemic and resume normal services while dealing with the challenges imposed by staff shortages, redeployments, and increased demand on our services”. Amalia says that there will be challenges in the year ahead for public dentistry: “The public dental service has been severely affected by the pandemic and the HSE Committee will work hard to help and guide its members during this time. I would aim for very close co-operation between the public and private services in providing the best care for the patients”. Amalia commends HSE dentists for their extraordinary effort during the Covid pandemic, “either by being redeployed or working in the dental surgeries, and very often doing both roles at the same time”.
Positive impact Amalia says that the IDA was the biggest source of information to her about Irish dentistry when she came here first, and that the Association has helped her continuously since then: “Being an IDA member, I’ve had numerous opportunities to meet new colleagues, and to attend events and seminars organised by the IDA to keep up with CPD requirements and be up to
Journal of the Irish Dental Association | Oct/Nov 2021: Vol 67 (5) 245
