First of all I must thank everyone at the Greifswald dental school for giving me such a warm welcome and for treating me so well throughout my stay in Germany. I arrived in late September 2009 and I had never before visited Greifswald. Due to the small size of the town it was easy to find my way around after the first couple of days. I was amazed by the beautiful town center and I completely fell in love with all those cozy bakeries. Most exchange students arrive 2 weeks before their course starts and participate in intensive language courses. I could already speak some basics before I arrived but I also managed to pick a lot during my time there. Over a 4 months period I got to live the life of a German Dental student.



The dental school is absolutely brand new and is equipped with all the latest equipment. I felt very privileged as a dental student for being able to work in such a state of the art environment. Due to the small number of students everyone knows each other very well and makes you feel as if you are part of their family. I even made a trip to Munich with the German dental students to attend implantology and CAD/CAM lectures. Another good thing about dentistry is that we spend so much time working together and therefore socialize more than other students who usually only attend lectures. This was very important to me as most Erasmus students often struggle to get local contacts and friends.

The first two weeks in the dental school included introduction to clinics. There was a list of cavities and preparations that had to be completed in a phantom head prior to commencing with patients in clinic (see appendix). This proved difficult to begin with as dental students here have far more experience with phantom head preparations. One student told me that he had cut approximately 200 plastic teeth prior to this week. Since magnification loupes are mandatory all cavities are cut to German precision. One thing I was glad about was that they taught their students different techniques for onlays and inlays.

Dental students over there start with patients in their 4th year, but I must say I was impressed how well they coped with their first patients. Two students share one unit and alternate about who is assisting the other. Even though my German was on a more basic level I managed quite well and all the staff was really helpful towards helping me out. In Greifswald there seem to be a lot more focus on prosthodontics compared to England and all students carry out their own lab work themselves. Sometimes they have to work in the lab until 8 o clock in the evening. Additionally, I also had the opportunity to attend a 1 week long CEREK course. This was by far the most exciting dental technology I have ever tried.

Students work on the same clinic throughout their clinical period and carry out all their treatments there. I attended one week oral surgery rotation including two days in operating theatre. Apart from treating patients a lot of the time was spent on clinic shadowing or nursing for other students or specialists. This was by far much more important to me as I got to learn their way of doing dentistry.

One interesting aspect of Greifswald dental school was their policy of forcing their students to buy their own hand pieces, burrs, face bows, dental loupes, articulators and laboratory instruments. As an exchange student I was provided with all of the equipment. The cross infection was not enforced as rigorously as in Newcastle and most equipment apart from endodontic equipment was stored in open air in draws or cupboards.

To sum up I was very pleased with my Erasmus exchange. It opened me up to different ways of thinking in dentistry and taught me some valuable clinical skills. My German improved a lot and I genuinely felt as if I had integrated quickly into the German society. I truly recommend Erasmus to other dental students.


Mikael Bjorkeborn