For the past four years, Sri Lankan-Finnish dentist Jeevana Subasinghe has experienced multiple forms of inappropriate behavior and discrimination by his employer at the Porvoo Municipal Health Center. But the treatment and discrimination he allegedly claims bring to light a wider systemic problem that affects some Finnish dentists as well.
Dr Subasinghe’s relationship with the Porvoo Municipal Health Center started in 2012. He joined them as a permanent staff member in April 2013 as an orthodontic assistant and a surgery assistant dentist. The appointment was offered due to his experience and professional background. Prior to coming to Finland, he had his own practice in Newbury, Royal County of Berkshire, United Kingdom.
Dr Subashinghe, who has lived on and off in Finland since the 1980s, said that networks are everything in this country. Without them, it is very difficult to advance in a career never mind find employment. Finns have these networks while foreigners don’t have as many.
Dr Jeevana Subasinghe.
On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, everything came to a head when Dr Subasinghe’s employer terminated his employment. He believes that the decision is wrong, and will challenge it. His last official day at work was January 21, 2019.
According to Dr Subasinghe, the employers of the Porvoo Municipal Health Center have tried to discharge him for the past two years.
A difficult relationship
“My problems with the Porvoo Municipal Health Center started when I wanted to specialize in orthodontics at a time when there was a great need for such specialists at the health center,” he said. “The waiting lists for children at the time were almost three years, or when the best time for correct intervention had passed.”
Dr Subasinghe said that he had approached the chief dentist at the center and asked her about getting orthodontic training at the University of Helsinki.
It is normal in Finland that a part of the specialist training in orthodontics is carried out under health center supervision. Since Dr Subasinghe had worked for seven years treating orthodontic patients in the United Kingdom in collaboration with Göteborg University professionals, he was confident that such training would give him the opportunity to use the latest techniques that would improve and save time in treating patients.
“The need for an orthodontist [at the Porvoo health center] arose from poor planning by the management,” he continued. “There was no replacement plan for the orthodontist that was going to retire soon.”
After he found out that health centers in Vantaa, Riihimäki, Kirkkonummi, Helsinki and others in the Greater Helsinki were arranging in-house specialization programs for dental specialists, Dr Subasinghe decided to approach the chief dentist and requested that he could pursue such training in the Porvoo health center.
At first, the chief dentist appeared surprised by the request, but she agreed only if he arranged everything himself with the University of Helsinki.
The professor of orthodontics at the University of Helsinki agreed that such specialization could be arranged for Dr Subasinghe. The next step was that the request should come from the Porvoo Municipal Health Center, which should provide a supervising specialist orthodontist.
“But to my surprise,” Dr Subasinghe continue, “the chief orthodontist declined to be my supervisor. An even bigger shock came when the health center nominated two young orthodontic assistants immediately after this discussion.”
By nominating the two dentists, one of whom was the chief dentist’s daughter, Dr Subasinghe felt that his professional career was undermined. Even his name as an orthodontic assistant was removed from the health center’s reception list.
Dr Subasinghe visited Sri Lanka in December-January where he assisted multiple medical professionals including military plastic surgeons. The experience gave him knowledge in treating geriatric patients. “I can use this new knowledge in my work in Finland,” he said.
“Thus, I was unilaterally demoted from treating orthodontic patients from two days a week to almost none,” he said. “This was outright discrimination, professionally unfair and would impair my chances of getting into an orthodontic training position in universities. It also deprived children of treatment by an experienced dentist.”
Continue reading “THE LONG READ: Dr Jeevana Subasinghe – How inappropriate behavior and discrimination happen at a health center and higher education in Finland”
