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Volume 1 Issue 5
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N
ews and
E
vents
Beginning this fall, each dental school
will host an event to introduce incoming
students to FCDSA and let them know
how to get involved.
According to Dr. Munsie, one issue that unites
dental students from all schools is access to
care, where “there really is a possibility that
students could make a difference.” Through
FCDSA, some schools learned about an
initiative for improving the oral health care
of people with special needs. “We were able
to spread the word about Oral Health, Total
Health, and its annual Sharing Smiles Day (a
fun and educational day that brings dental
and dental hygiene students together with
persons with special needs),” says Dr. Munsie.
“Three dental schools hadn’t heard of Oral
Health, Total Health before, but it looks like
they are now on board. The Federation
allows conversations like that to happen,”
she adds.
As FCDSA establishes its network within
organized dentistry, new connections
are being made with other national
organizations, such as the Association of
Canadian Faculties of Dentistry, and learning
from others, such as CDA, CDSPI, the National
Dental Examining Board (NDEB) and the
American Student Dental Association.
CDA, in particular, has been a strong FCDSA
supporter and continues to host the
secretariat for the federation. “CDA brought
forward the idea of a student federation
and helped us establish ourselves in 2012,”
explains Dr. Munsie. “They are our greatest
support.”
At the recent AGM, an agreement with
NDEB was adopted to ensure mutual
representation at annual meetings.
FCDSA also agreed to distribute information
to students about the NDEB certification
process. “Students had concerns about the
high cost of the NDEB program,” explains
Dr. Munsie. “After working with the NDEB,
we were able to explain to students that
NDEB is non-profit, and the cost of the exam
is truly what is required to securely and fairly
administer the exam.”
“This is an important stage in FCDSA’s
history,” says Mr. Boulos. “We’ve come a long
way since establishing in 2012 but much
more remains to be done.”
a
FCDSA council members
who attended the
2014 AGM
(University/Graduation Date)
• Linda Lan (Alberta ’15)
• Lindsay Orser (Alberta ’17)
• Reza Entezarion (UBC ’16)
• Soroush Liaghat (UBC ’16)
• Heather Patry (Dalhousie ’15)
• Bryce Tung (Dalhousie ’17)
• Frédéric Bouchard (Laval ’14)
• Simon-Olivier Brault (Laval ’16)
• Victor Le (Manitoba ’14)
• Sunny Virdi (Manitoba ’16)
• Nazanin Hojjati (McGill ’15)
• Chloe Fung (McGill ’15)
• Toufic Boulos (Montreal ’15)
• François Bélanger (Montreal ’15)
• Danielle Gray (Saskatchewan ’16)
• Daniel Salloum (Saskatchewan ’17)
• Hayley Faulkner (Toronto’15)
• Khashayar Gharavi (Toronto ’17)
• Shannon Munsie (Western ’14)
• Nada Tabbara (Western ’17)
To contact the FCDSA,
email:
secretariat@fcdsa.ca