During the Federation of Canadian Dentistry Students Associations (FCDSA) conference in Toronto last month two McGill dental students were elected to important roles in the FCDSA Council. Natalie Pollock was elected as FCDSA Regional Counsellor - Eastern Canada, and David Wu as FCDSA Vice-President – Research. Their one year mandates will officially begin in June 2018 and end in June 2019.
As FCDSA Regional Counsellor - Eastern Canada, Natalie will be responsible for representing the interests of McGill, Université de Montréal, Université de Laval and Dalhousie University. As FCDSA Vice-President – Research, David will collaborate with FCDSA partners to create new research opportunities and secure additional funding for dental students. Both will work with FCDSA executives and council to organize the next Canadian Dental Student Conference.
“We hope to inspire our peers to dream more, learn more, do more, become more”, says Natalie of being given the opportunity to represent her peers. “Working with our team at the FCDSA, we strive to build an accessible platform that promotes all Canadian dental students to learn, network, collaborate, and engage in organized dentistry at an early stage in their career”, says David. “This upcoming year the FCDSA will aim to establish the resources necessary to become a platform for student advocacy, for example, to further public health initiatives.”
The mission of the federation is to connect dentistry students in order to foster the sharing of common interests and challenges, advocate as a unified national student voice for the promotion of accessible, optimal dental education and patient care, and provide an avenue to introduce and involve students in organized dentistry. Visit their website for more information on their objectives, and upcoming conferences.