ADSA

Goals:Having attended my first ADSA Convention in Sydney in 2017 and subsequently been the 2018 Convenor in Perth, this organisation has a very special place in my heart. It has afforded me the opportunity to meet so many phenomally inspiring and like-minded dental professionals-to-be and it is an honour to represent them as the 2019 President alongside the rest of our ADSA family. I am a DMD3 student at UWA with ambitions to become a clinician-scientist, having fostered a keen interest in research in my undergraduate degree. In addition to developing a strong sense of solidariety within the dental community, I am highly passionate about engagement with the general community and improving oral health literacy, particularly in populations of need. When I’m not in the lab or having the time of my life at conferences and uni events, I’ll be baking up a storm, breaking a sweat at Zumba or Barre and indulging in Perth’s local food and music scenes.

About me:

As we celebrate the tenth birthday of our organisation, I have grand plans for 2019, both with regard to developing our existing initiatives and to expanding ADSA’s repertoire. I would like to further ADSA’s commitment to increasing our visibility among dental students through our digital media and events such as the ADSA Cup and to forge stronger nation-wide connections between Australian dental students to ensure that everyone feels part of the inclusive and supportive community that we have strived to cultivate. Additionally, I hope to cement ADSA’s presence in the international dental community through becoming a member of the International Association of Dental Students and engaging with other organisations that representation the dental students of our neighbouring nations. Furthermore, having formed a novel collaboration with the Australian Medical Students’ Association in 2018, I hope to establish professional ties between other allied health professionals. I will also be working closely with the Community Subcommittee and University Representatives to establish a dental recycling programme at each dental school and to develop a dental outreach curriculum for primary school students.

My journey with the Australian Dental Students’ Association began in 2017 when, I, a shy second year student decided to put her hand up to be part of the Sponsorship Subcommittee. Little did I know, this was where I discovered my passion for conversing and connecting which gave me the drive and foundation to undertake the Sponsorship Officer position in the following year. As we get the ball rolling for 2019, I would like to make a promise to the incoming committee and our student association to use my experience within the student committee to be your anchor for support. As Vice President I will work alongside our president Emma and the 2019 committee to find opportunities to connect and enhance your experience within dental school.

ADSA runs many amazing events throughout the year connecting dental students across the country and providing opportunities to explore the profession of dentistry. However all these great activities require funding and that’s where I come in. As ADSA Treasurer, I intend to make sure our finances are evenly distributed and balanced amongst the different events and activities we have planned for the 2019 year.

As the IT officer in 2019, I would like to improve the workflow of the committee. By improving the way in which we communicate, we can improve the efficiency of our workflows. I plan to introduce two project management platforms can bring the committee members closer together, given that most of us are from different states. Furthermore, I would like to streamline the ADSA website and increase its functionalities and interactivity, as well as to aid in bringing more traffic flow to enhance our visibility and the ease of access of information to our members and prospective sponsors.

I am a 2nd year dental student from La Trobe University, moving from Melbourne to Bendigo to study. Despite having only complete 1 year of dental school, I am already excited about the dental profession and look forward to the years to come. Outside of school, I enjoy playing volleyball and taking subpar photos of brunch. I love to travel and experience different food and culture, and plan to do lots of it in the upcoming years.

Goals:

As media officer for ADSA, my goal for the next year is to keep all our members informed of our events through our various social media outlets. Working in conjunction with other ADSA committee members, I plan to promote the many events ADSA runs and hold, to provide our members with the opportunity to network, as well as develop knowledge that will be invaluable as oral health and dental professionals. My goals are to keep our members aware of our events and further create more initiates to link the dental community together!

ADSA has established a fast-paced growth in publicity among not only the dental students around Australia, but also with other affiliated partners in the industry. I believe that the design elements are a crucial aspect of increasing this publicity by giving ADSA an appealing presentation and representation. In 2019, I look forward to introducing a more professional design language with ADSA and the inclusion of more video materials. I hope to achieve this along with my sub-committee members who are like-minded and highly capable.

My aim as a Rural Officer in 2019 are to help to improve public health in dentristry by raising awareness of any regional and rural opportunities that will benefit students. I hope to achieve this by encouraging students to immerse themselves in an environment outside of their urbanised comfort-zone and by promoting any volunteering opportunities and rural scholarships available. It would be my pleasure to update students on the happenings within the rural dentistry society and to help to create chances to give back to the community.

This year I hope to build on the current ADSA publications such as the First Year Handbook and Recent Graduate Handbook by providing relevant information and links to additional resources and external organisations. I would like to increase readership of the Articulate through promotion and release of ‘vlog-style’ updates on different social media platforms. I also have intentions to introduce a new interview series profiling ADSA Talks lecturers, as well as other specialists and notable figures. With this series, I plan to further increase community participation by asking students to submit questions and feedback about what they would like to see and who they would like to hear from next.

In 2019, as the oral health officer, I would like to establish and maintain professional working relationships with ADOHTA and DHAA. I am aiming to attend at least one event hosted by either organisation to meet and network with oral health therapists, hygienists and dental therapists to better understand what we can contribute to the dental profession. I will also be keeping up with the latest updates in both organisations as well as the scope of practice debate and offer ADSA members concise, relevant and helpful information. I am looking forward to working with such a driven and inspiring team.

Goals:

Ending my dental school time with a bang, I would love to increase the presence of the ADSA Cup further amongst all the dental and oral health school in 2019. Orientation week at the beginning of the year will also be vamped up, giving new dental students their first taste of what ADSA has to offer. I also hope to make a few improvements to current ADSA events to increase engagement, for example the Blood Drive and RUOK day. Seeking more volunteering opportunities for dental and oral health students both interstate and overseas will be a priority, working with the media/website team to relay details to students well in advance. I will also be assisting Emma in fostering ADSA’s relationship with the International Association, as well as hopefully implementing an amazing dental outreach program to primary schools.

Being a fairly new initiative, ADSA Talks is a work in progress. But, this gives us the opportunity to try different things and explore ways to improve the structure of the program. Having followed ADSA Talks since its inception, I hope to see through a consistent delivery of talks, spread evenly across the year, with added student engagement, possibly through Q&A sessions, using student feedback, and by making the Talks more accessible to students at their own time. With the introduction of the Education Subcommittee role this year, I believe we will be able to achieve this and much more.

As the co-convenor for the ADSA Convention, my plan along with Linh is to make the Convention as engaging and enjoyable for our fellow students as the previous year. I went to my first ADSA Convention in Perth alone, which was quite daunting, however, I am proud to say that it was definitely a highlight of my year. This was mostly due to the many opportunities to interact and socialise with great like-minded students. I want to promote this experience of enjoyment to other students through engaging lectures, hands-on workshops and entertaining social events. This is my first year involved in the ADSA commitee and I am looking forward to what we as a team can achieve in 2019!

My main goal for 2019 is to use my experience in attending past conventions to create an exciting and memorable convention this year. Having attended 3 past conventions, I hope to have some idea of how to organise and event that will be equal parts informative and fun. I aim to run useful and interesting workshops and have a wide variety of speakers and lecture topics so that there will be something to appeal to everyone. Alongside the academic program, the social calendar will be jam-packed full of opportunities for networking and entertainment opportunities. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there this year!

In 2019 with ADSA, I hope to help grow the capacity for outreach programs and volunteering for dental and OHT students. Not only will this enhance opportunities to practice clinical skills and attain real-world experience but it will hopefully allow for us, as a student body, to bring about positive change in the community particularly in areas of disadvantage and poor health-related outcomes. This year we are working to roll out a dental outreach program for rural schools, for which students can volunteer and help facilitate. I will also be working with Angela to strengthen dental student unity through the ADSA cup, and increase engagement with health campaigns such as the Blood Drive, World Oral Health Day, Mouth Cancer Awareness Day and RUOK day. In addition, I will be working with Emma to implement an innovative dental waste recycling initiative in feasible dental and OHT schools.

Design, as a platform for sharing information, has limitless avenues of expression. It is my goal, therefore, to combine my passion of video-making, an appreciation for professional and minimal design language with my design officer and ADSA in shaping a dynamic, unique and captivating way in expressing what ADSA has to offer. I am looking forward to be working with the design team. I have a lot to learn, and I believe that together, ADSA design will help facilitate the growth of in the fast-paced industry.

The role of sponsorship sub com excites me because I think building strong professional relationships between ADSA and its sponsors is crucial. I want to be able to help sponsors feel supported and I think that having ease of communication is really important in providing that. I’m looking forward to working with Peter in continuing ADSA’s existing relationships with sponsors and reaching out to future potential sponsors.

Hi! I’m a third year at the University of Melbourne and am delighted and honoured to be the 2019 UniMelb ADSA Rep! I love dogs (especially corgis!!) and enjoy puns, festooning dentures, eating, and travelling despite the accompanied horrible travel sickness. I recently participated in a dental volunteering outreach program and highly recommend the enriching experience! I’m so excited for what 2019 has in store for ADSA and look forward to increasing the recognition of ADSA at UniMelb!
 

As the University of Sydney ADSA Representative, I will strive to ensure that the questions and qualms of the DMD cohort are accurately represented, and just as importantly, ensure that we as students are aware of all the benefits available to us through ADSA. I understand that the number of Usyd students attending ADSA convention is very low. I hope to find out exactly why this is, and focus on bringing more Usyd students to ADSA events. The BOH cohort has also been important in our increased participation within ADSA, and as such I want to continue to foster the BOH and DMD relationship,,to bring the greatest benefit to all Dental students at Usyd.

As the University of Western Australia ADSA representative, I am excited to connect UWA dental students to all the benefits and great programming ADSA provides all dental students. I am keen to continue UWA’s great relationship with ADSA, and encourage students to get involved and connect with their national dental student body. Having had the unique opportunity of hosting ADSA Convention in 2018, it allowed for many UWA students to attend, and left with great memories and new friendships. I am hoping that having experienced the greatness of Convention many UWA students will decide to attend again in 2019! Increasing participation in ADSA talks is a goal of mine, as it is a great opportunity to learn from experts from around Australia. R U OK Day? is a great initiative to bring awareness about the health of dental students, I hope to foster this openness about wellbeing to not only be a once a year event, but that we as dental students are checking in on each other daily. I am excited for what 2019 will bring for ADSA!

My primary goal as a representative this year is to increase ADSA’s presence within my university. For the past year, I believe that the push for ADSA within CSU was not nearly enough and this year I will strive to change that. By using my other role within CSU’s Student Dental Association, I will be able to bring more publicity ADSA’s amazing events and programs. This will allow more of the new students to be able to take advantage of the boundless resources ADSA has to offer and to have a great experience like mine with the ADSA association. I also can’t wait to see how ADSA will grow this year and be a contributing part of each step along the way.

My goal next year is to promote ADSA and provide a greater awareness of the amazing association to the Griffith Dentistry Cohort. As a Griffith Uni rep I aim to establish and strengthen the connection between ADSA and The Griffith Dental Student Association (GUDSA); as well as share the benefits and incentives that the ADSA offers my fellow peers. I also aim to establish communication between the various Dental schools by working closely with the other Uni reps. One of my main ambitions for 2019 is to get as many of my peers involved in events such as RUOK day and the Blood Drive – as I hope to build a sense of community by increasing engagement and participation in such events.

With my final year of dental school approaching, I decided to take the plunge and apply to be JCU’s ADSA representative, and here I am! Born and raised in Melbourne, I moved to the tropics to study dentistry and have made lifelong friends along the way. Although Melbourne will always be home, Cairns has been an amazing place to study and relax. During my spare time I like to go on walks, explore new places to brunch and get my fix of retail therapy/damage. I am honoured to be a part of the ADSA team and look forward to seeing how ADSA will grow in the coming year.

My goal for ADSA in 2019 is to encourage more involvement from OHT students in WA. I would like to see our colaboration with DHAA as well as ADOHTA. I would also like 2019 to be the year where OHT students of WA can work together, collaborating and networking in all 3 years not just one. I hope to see more OHT students come together get to know other students in dentistry and use this connection to benefit their future career. It is a great opportunity not for only OHT students but aslo future fellow clinicians and employers.

I intend to improve the awareness of ADSA and the support it provides amongst the Adelaide cohort, continue our strong showing at the Blood Drive, and raise numbers of attendance to the annual convention. I want to form strong ties between ADSA and AUDSS so they can continue to support each other and colloborate. With AUDSS celebrating its 100th birthday, and of course ADSA celebrating its 10th, both groups could learn a lot from each other.

Outside of Dentistry, I enjoy all things all things social – from hanging at a friend’s place to shopping and dining out to having a good night out at bars. I am not so much of an active person, but I try every once in a while to go on a hike or run. I am also a keen traveller and an adrenalin junkie, and it is my goal to go sky diving and bungy jumping in the near future.