“A medical sector of excellence and benchmarking in tourism give the country the capacity to provide an attractive offer”. This is one of the conclusions of the sitting entitled ‘Na Ordem do Dia’ (‘On the Agenda’), which took place during the congress of the Portuguese Dental Association (OMD), held last November.
According to the OMD, “the dynamism of this potential sector may involve the creation of attractive tourist packages, which allow international patients to visit the country while undergoing treatments and other dental therapies”.
Fernando Arrobas, coordinator of the OMD Tourism in Dentistry working group, recalled that the search for “medical treatments outside their countries values the quality certification of clinics, the state-of-the-art technology available and the dentist’s curriculum”.
The chairman of the board of the OMD, Miguel Pavão, emphasized that “the human capital of knowledge and talent cannot be wasted”, recalling that it is “the ideal time to create a strategy and integrate dentistry into the Government’s seven-year plan”.
He explained that “there is a lot to be done at this point”, giving as an example the “resort to external promotion, so that Portugal is considered a host country for dental treatments, a benchmark in health tourism”. He also suggested that, on a national level, “a dentist can apply for funding to train their team” and that programs and grants should be promoted to create opportunities in this area.
The full conference ‘Na Ordem do Dia’ can be seen on the OMD page.
