The Regional Secretary of Health of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (RAM), Pedro Ramos, recently announced the creation of a public service career in dentistry. The decision was made known during an audience with the surgeon general of the Order of Dentists (OMD), Orlando Monteiro da Silva, and the representative of the OMD Board of Directors in the RAM, Gil Fernandes Alves.
For a long time, the OMD has been calling for the creation of a special career for dentists working in the civil service on the mainland, the Azores and Madeira. At a meeting, between the representatives of the OMD and the Regional Secretary of Health of the RAM, it was agreed that a working group would be set up, composed of members of the Regional Health Service of Madeira (SESARAM) and the Order, for the drafting of a legislative decree to be presented to the Regional Assembly.
The special dental career in the area of Health will enter into force after being approved by the Regional Assembly. At the audience, the surgeon general of the OMD presented to the Regional Secretary of Health the basis of the career already approved by the Ministry of Health of Mainland Portugal, which has been awaiting approval by the Ministry of Finance for almost two years.
For Orlando Monteiro da Silva “this initiative has two strengths, on one hand it gives proper roles to dentists practicing in RAM, and on the other hand it serves as an example for the Mainland. It should be noted that the president of the government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Vasco Cordeiro, has already made himself available to examine and look into this matter regarding its various implications and, from there, make a decision that can account for our position in the face of this specific career”.
