What's the Best Course You've Ever Taken Then?
Andrew Shelley BDS MFGDP(UK) DPDS MGDS RCSEd FFGDP(UK) FDS RCSEd reports on Perio-Implant Europe’s implantology & anatomy course in Paris.
When we all learnt minor oral surgery as students we studied anatomy, practised on pig’s heads and were then introduced to the real thing one stage at a time under close supervision. The problem with most implant courses is that they have difficulty in reproducing this kind of comprehensive training. Even courses that call themselves hands-on are often carried out on models. Training is sometimes carried out by some very competent company representatives. However it is really not the same as being trained by someone who understands the reality of surgery. Another problem is that the genuine hands-on courses usually require you to bring along your own patients. This creates a “Catch 22” situation. It’s very difficult to find the right patients until you undertake the training and you can’t undertake the training until you find the right patients. Perio-implant course director Nadeem Zafar seems to have found the answer.
If you were to design your own training programme for implantology it would probably be very much like this one. A series of comprehensive lecture courses in London give a basic grounding in implantology. You then spend a weekend in Paris exploring the relevant anatomy and placing implants on fresh cadavers. It feels real because it is real. There is then a two part course in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Each part is a week long. In the first part patients are supplied for you and you place implants under appropriate supervision. Some six months later you return to Brazil to restore the implants on your own patients from the first course.
I have recently returned from the Paris module and it really was the best course I have ever taken. Even if you do not intend to carry out the surgical aspects of implantology yourself it is a great experience to revisit your anatomy. It makes so much more sense than when you were a student because as a practitioner you can see it all in context. As little more than a schoolboy the first time I have to say that I found it fascinating but difficult.
Using the cadavers we explored the anatomy of the face and jaws with particular attention to the possible dangers of implant surgery such as the position of nearby arteries and nerve bundles. We also had time to move on to practice more advanced procedures such as sinus lifts and ramus grafts although comprehensive training in these aspects forms part of a separate course. In any event it is very valuable to know the details of these procedures in order to advise patients and properly plan treatment. Finally we placed a number of implants in the jaws giving us the opportunity to feel exactly what it is like to place these in live patients.
It seems that France is one of the few places where this type of training can take place on fresh cadavers. Not that I am complaining about having to go to Paris. Accommodation was arranged in a small hotel just near the Louvre and we attended the course at the anatomy department of the University of Paris just across the River Seine. This was a fantastic setting. Lunch on both days was at the renowned Petit Zinc restaurant nearby and there was ample time for a bit of sight seeing too.
The course tutors are outstanding and the slightly different approach of the French Professors makes a refreshing change. The course is delivered in English, sometimes with translators, so there is no language problem. This was a fantastic weekend. I can’t wait for the Brazil trip.
Further details of the course are available on the Perio-implant website at http://www.implantsuccess.com/.
Another problem is that the genuine hands-on courses usually require you to bring along your own patients. This creates a “Catch 22” situation
If you were to design your own training programme for implantology it would probably be very much like this one
Even if you do not intend to carry out the surgical aspects of implantology yourself it is a great experience to revisit your anatomy.
Using the cadavers we explored the anatomy of the face and jaws with particular attention to the possible dangers of implant surgery
It seems that France is one of the few places where this type of training can take place on fresh cadavers.
Accommodation was arranged in a small hotel just near the Louvre and we attended the course at the anatomy department of the University of Paris just across the River Seine.
