Dentists from RUDN University become the only participants from Russia at the Olympiad in Dubai

RUDN University became the only university that represented Russia at the Olympiad. The university team consisted of five 5th year students of dentistry supervised by Zurab Khabadze, Head of the Department of Therapeutic Dentistry of the Institute of Medicine.

“RUDN once again confirmed the status of the ‘Best International University of the Russian Federation’. After the qualifying stage we were honored to represent our country in the semifinals of the International Student Dental Olympiad. This is a large-scale event in the UAE, which was attended by very well-trained representatives of 21 universities. Indeed, our team failed to reach the final, but at the same time we got an idea what the competitive program is like. In the future, all the mistakes we have made now will be taken into account, and we will definitely compete for a prize. I am proud of RUDN University and keep admirong the opportunities that the university provides to our students,” said Zurab Khabadze, Head of the Department of Therapeutic Dentistry, Deputy Director of RUDN Institute of Medicine.

The Olympiad tasks were in the format of a blitz survey: the teams had 30 seconds to answer. Theoretical tasks included all sections of dentistry according to the curricula of dental schools in Europe and the USA.

“The most difficult questions were classifications of dental diseases that are different in Russia. But the tasks on dental treatment and differentiation of nosological were no problem: at the university we learn a lot about it,” said Darina Shirokova (5^th-year student of Dentistry).

“I liked the questions of the Olympiad. They required extra knowledge beyond what we study at the university. The main difficulty was that each country has its own scientific classifications, while these differences sometimes led to misunderstandings. But notwithstanding this fact we answered most of the questions correctly thanks to careful preparation together with Zurab Sulikoevich,” said Vehbi Ahmad (5^th-year student of Dentistry).

“Each of the team members knows well one area of dentistry than another. It certainly made us work as a team. It seemed to me that the most difficult thing at such events was the language barrier. But even this was not a problem,” said Daria Nazarova (5^th-year student of Dentistry).

An important part of the trip was establishing contacts for further cooperation with the International Scientific Dental Association of Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi Dental Association, the Association of Orthodontists and the UAE Mohamed Bin Rashid Medical University.