Dentists who do not speak Estonian causing problems for healthcare system
Just under 100 dentists have joined Estonia's workforce in recent years without being required to pass a separate Estonian language exam before starting work. However, this has created problems both for patients and in medical documentation.
Over the past seven years, more than 80 dentists from outside the European Union have been added to Estonia's healthcare professionals register. Although they pass an Estonian-language equivalency exam at the University of Tartu, in practice the exam does not reflect a person's actual language proficiency.
According to Jana Olak, head of the University of Tartu's Institute of Dentistry, people in the dental profession have long argued that a language exam should be required before candidates take the equivalency exam.
"Those who pass the exam usually receive grades of D or E. I don't think anyone has ever gotten an A," Olak said.
Dentists arriving from abroad now mainly come from Ukraine and Belarus. However, Estonian Dental Association President Katrin Metstak believes they are not actually needed because Estonia already has enough dentists.
"This is a very serious problem because they don't even speak the language. In reality, a doctor should know Estonian at the C1 level. If a doctor doesn't speak Estonian, they can't complete medical documentation properly and we see a great many errors in documentation. That can't be allowed."
Employers — dental clinics — are responsible for ensuring that a dentist can communicate effectively with patients. Even so, Metstak said misunderstandings still occur between patients and dentists, including cases in which the wrong tooth is treated.
The Ministry of Social Affairs agrees that the situation is unacceptable but says there are no quick solutions.
"It does no good if people don't have the required level of language proficiency. It's not only qualifications or country of origin that matter; adequate language skills are also essential. At present, it is the employer's responsibility to verify that language requirement because the person is being hired by a specific institution," said Katrin Kivisild, head of labor policy at the ministry.
The Estonian Dental Association wants to introduce an annual cap on the number of dentists from third countries who may take the equivalency exam. The proposed limit would be set at 10 percent of the number of fifth-year dentistry students at the University of Tartu in a given year. Representatives of the ministry and the university will continue discussions this fall.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Märten Hallismaa
