Welcome graduate dentists and oral health practitioners

A warm welcome to our 2026 Graduate Development Program (GDP) cohort of 14 graduate dentists and oral health therapists (OHTs), who recently began their professional careers at Dental Health Services.

Our GDP is specifically designed to support graduates develop into confident practitioners, providing the ideal program for those wanting to progress from university into clinical practice.

Graduate development program facilitator Ellen Rogers has seen firsthand how providing a supportive foundation enables graduates to flourish into thriving practitioners.

"Building mentor-mentee relationships, developing reflecting learning skills, and giving new graduates a wide and varied experience within their first year of their career sets them up for what will hopefully be a long and sustainable career serving the community's oral health needs," Ellen said.

Over a 12-month period, graduates gain hands-on experience through clinical placements in the Smiling Starts Early Childhood Dental Program (0-4 yrs), School Dental Service (5-16 yrs), Adult Dental Clinics (17+) and Special Dental Services.

They also gain exposure to the unique challenges of both metro and country locations, learn from structured educational sessions each week and have continuous access to program clinical supervisors and clinical mentors.

In addition to our Graduate Development Program, another dentist and eight OHT graduates have directly joined the WA Adult and School Dental Services.

The OHTs will be placed in locations across the Perth metropolitan area and supported by highly experienced Dental Therapists as they grow into their new professional careers, providing community based public dental services to children enrolled in the WA School Dental Service. The final dental graduate will be providing essential services to Meekatharra and surrounding communities.