First Indigenous Patient Liaison trainee making a big difference in oral health
Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) recently welcomed its first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Patient Liaison trainee, Cindy Evans, on a 12 month traineeship.
As part of her training, Cindy has been working with the Diversity and Teaching Clinic teams to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients visiting The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne for treatment.
“I joined DHSV as I wanted to do something in health,” Cindy said.
“I’ve been in and out of hospitals myself and I wanted to give something back. The hospital is a wonderful place to work at and I‘m really enjoying it.”
DHSV CEO, Dr Deborah Cole, said the patient liaison traineeship is part of DHSV’s Aboriginal Employment Plan to provide more career opportunities for the community, and also improve access, identification and culturally responsive care for Aboriginal patients.
“In the past financial year we have treated 10.3% more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples state-wide than the previous year.
“We are not only recommitted to closing the gap in indigenous health but also providing opportunities for greater community involvement through employment,” said Dr Cole.
“DHSV's Diversity team is passionate about reducing the huge gaps that exist between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the rest of the population.”
Cindy’s appointment follows DHSV’s unique Indigenous Dental Assistant Traineeship program that has been hugely successful so far, with two of its graduates being the first Indigenous students to be accepted in La Trobe University’s dentistry program.
“We want to create a culturally inclusive team that can meet the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” said Dr Cole.
“More and more Aboriginal Victorians are accessing care in our public dental clinics and we want to make sure we can provide dental access to even more in the community.”
For more information, contact Mingsia Lee on 9341 1139 or Mingsia.lee@dhsv.org.au