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Dr. Shaun Matthews, a Facial Reconstructive Surgeon, speaking at the CDP 2018 opening ceremony.

Continuing education a must

Continuing education is a must for those in the Dental fraternity and in the medical profession in general.

This was the word coming from Dr. Shaun Matthews, a Facial Reconstructive Surgeon. The Barbadian-born Matthews practised as a Consultant Surgeon at King’s College Hospital, London for 11 years before joining the faculty of the University of North Carolina in 2014 as a Clinical Associate Professor. He was speaking at the Caribbean Dental Programme Inc. (CDP) 2018 opening ceremony at the Accra Beach Hotel & Spa.

Dr. Matthews explained, “Continuing education is absolutely critical to develop who we are as a profession and it is this type of conference that is integral to the progression and I commend Dr. Victor Eastmond, Chairman of the CDP, for his efforts. My work as a facial reconstructive surgeon lies within the interface of medicine and dentistry, thus I have seen the best and worst the profession has to offer. Therefore, the basis of our profession unquestionably is the emphasis placed on continued education seeking to improve ourselves and our clinical outcomes for the better of our patients; that is what it is all about. Learning should never be taken for granted and it is a constant evolving process. Standing still is not an option, we should always be looking to strive to be better for our patients and for our own personal growth.”

He added, “Continuing education is not an option in the UK or USA where I spent my entire clinical career. If you do not take part in continuing education, you will not get a licence to practise. You have to demonstrate you are up-to-date in what is going on in your field; dentistry is not the same now as it was 20 or 30 years ago, it has changed rapidly. Dentists in Barbados must be involved in continuing education, it is not a point of argument. It is crucial to ensure they are delivering the best possible care for their patients.”

Dr. Matthews, who also praised the education system in Barbados, said: “What I have been able to achieve in my life is because of the education I received in Barbados at Harrison College. For a small island like Barbados to pack such an incredible punch globally in almost every sphere in life is remarkable, whether it is music, sports, medicine, etc. It is phenomenal how an island this size can have such a global outreach into excellence as we do and we should be fiercely proud of that.” (NB)

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