Oral Health Services Tasmania trains Antarctic doctors in dentistry skills in Tasmania
20 Aug 2025
Australian Antarctic doctors are undertaking dental training in Tasmania thanks to a new agreement through the Centre for Antarctic Remote and Maritime Medicine (CARMM).
For 70 years Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) doctors have completed dental training in Victoria, but now the two-week course will be delivered by Oral Health Services Tasmania (OHST).
Clinical Director of Oral Health Services Tasmania, Dr Ioan Jones, said OHST will use the state-of-the-art dental facility and equipment at the Southern Dental Centre for the training in July and August.
“The course is a mixture of theory and practical components covering patient oral assessments, radiography, trauma, filling and extraction techniques,” Dr Jones said.
“Once the doctors are down on station, if there’s a particularly complex case, OHST dentists will also provide emergency telehealth dental support,” he said.
“We are really looking forward to this partnership and ensuring our Antarctic doctors and expeditioners are well looked after,” Dr Jones said.
CARMM Council Member and Australian Antarctic Division Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr John Cherry, said it’s fantastic to be able to use CARMM partners to deliver this crucial training in Hobart.
“CARMM is a collaboration between the Australian Antarctic Division, Tasmanian Government Departments’ of Health and State Growth, and the University of Tasmania,” Dr Cherry said.
“Under our new recently signed Memorandum of Understanding we are able to fund and deliver this training using the highly skilled OHST dentists,” he said.
Six doctors will undergo the training prior to their deployment to Casey, Davis, Mawson and Macquarie Island stations at the end of the year.
Australian Antarctic stations only have a single doctor to deliver healthcare for about 25 expeditioners over winter and up to 120 over summer.
