[Washington, DC - January 30, 2013]  Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) is pleased to announce the launch of a new oral surgery education program in Kikuyu, Kenya. Partnering with the School of Dental Sciences at the University of Nairobi and the PCEA Kikuyu Mission Hospital, HVO will recruit volunteers to provide clinical and didactic training to 11 oral and maxillofacial surgery undergraduate students currently enrolled in the four-year Master of Science program at the School of Dental Sciences. Volunteers will also provide training to two community Dental Officers and the Graduate Oral and Maxillofacial Registrars, who will rotate through PCEA Kikuyu Mission Hospital. Volunteers will be fully-trained, board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeons who hold a current license to practice. The length of assignment is a minimum of two weeks.

With a population of 39 million people, Kenya has only 22 oral and maxillofacial surgeons. This ratio of one oral maxillofacial surgeon to 1.77 million patients results in over-burdened surgeons and inadequate service availability. The primary goal of HVO's new program is to increase the number of oral and maxillofacial surgeons available to Kenya's increasing population, and to improve the quality and availability of oral health care.

HVO's oral health programs are sponsored by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the American Dental Association.

Health Volunteers Overseas is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1986 to improve global health through the education of local health care providers. In 26 years of service, HVO's training has transformed lives through the design and implementation of clinical and didactic education programs in child health, primary care, trauma and rehabilitation, essential surgical care, oral health, blood disorders and cancer, infectious disease, nursing education and wound management. In more than 25 resource-poor countries, HVO volunteers train, mentor and provide critical professional support to health care providers who care for the neediest populations in the most difficult of circumstances. For more information, visit the HVO website.

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