EDSA UncoveredUpcoming Event: 41st EDSA Meeting, 1st EDSA Dental Olympic Games & 7th EDSA Congress

European Dental Students’ Association Uncovered...

Welcome to EDSA very first newsletter of 2008. A forum for European dental students to exchange news, stories and for a lucky few a bit of juicy gossip!

All views expressed by EDSA Uncovered are not necessarily those of EDSA uncovered or its editor. It is very much a possibility that all views were acquired during a hazy night on the town.

Edition 1, February 2008

the Newsletter of 2008

In April 2008, a most impatiently expected event – the 41st EDSA Meeting and 7th EDSA Congress – is to take place in the period between 21 and 27 April 2008 in one of the most beautiful cities in Bulgaria, Varna.

Bulgaria is a small country occupying the eastern portion of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. Founded in the 7th century, Bulgaria is one of the oldest states in Europe. Bulgaria has a diverse and eclectic mix of cultural

241st EDSA Meeting Varna ‘08

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Bulgaria welcomes you!21st-27th April 2008

and historical sites of interest. Eleven UNESCO World Her-itage Sites are to be found in Bulgaria including the world’s oldest processed gold which belongs to the Thracian gold treasure. Bulgaria today is a modern, developing country, yet it still preserves some of its traditional ‘treasures’, from the famous Bulgarian yoghurt – kisselo mliako – fermented by a specific type of bacteria (Bacillus bulgaricus) which is found only in Bulgaria, to fine wines and splendid rakiya, which are internationally recognized and produced by the finest grape brands. Europeans know Bulgaria by its famous ski and sea resorts.

Varna, the host city of the 41st EDSA Meeting and 7th EDSA Congress, is a major seaport and the third largest city in Bulgaria. The city is an important ad-ministrative, e c o n o m i c , cultural, and resort centre. It is a mod-ern city with wide, tree-lined boule-vards, a fine park on the w a t e r f r o n t , and spacious beaches. It is also the home of the new-est Faculty of dental medi-cine in Eu-rope.

Faculty of dental medicine – Varna was founded on the first of April 2006. It is the third FDM in Bulgaria, the other two are situated in Sofia and Plovdiv. The establishment of the FDM-Varna was a regional project whose sole purpose was to align the Bulgarian dental education system with its peers throughout the European Union. The faculty provides undergraduate, postgrad-uate and continuous education.

The Bulgarian Dental Students Scientific Association was en-trusted with the mission of hosting and organising the event. BDSSA is a relatively young organization; it was established in 2001. Its main goal is to work for and preserve the interests of the dental students in Bulgaria. It was great honor and pleasure for us to become a member of EDSA and join the big European dental students’ family. That is why we take the organization process with great responsibility.

The seven days ahead of us will have a relatively intensive agenda. After the arrival of delegates in the first day, there will be two days for the EDSA Meeting sessions, a visit at the Faculty of dental medicine – Varna and the traditional ‘Euro Vision night’.

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7th EDSA Congress Varna ‘08

This years’ novelty will be the ‘Olympics day‘ on Thurs-day. On this day partici-pants from all over Europe will come and compete in dif-ferent sports and fun games. Don’t forget to bring your national flag with you, so that we can make a real Olympics event! Friday and Saturday will be the days of the Congress. The agenda is going to be a little bit more intense, comprising of two oral presentation sessions, two poster sessions and lectures of both Bulgarian and foreign academ-ics. The last day, Sunday, 27th April, coincides with the Eastern-Orthodox Easter, so there will be a special Easter surprise for every one of our guests and a visit to the Varna delphinarium.

If you’re not able to spend the whole week in Bulgaria, you can come only to the Meeting and ‘Olympics’ or for the ‘Olympics’ and the Congress. But I can assure you that we will all miss you!!!

As the host country of the event our great ambition is to show the famous Bulgarian hospitality to the par-ticipants and delegates from all over Europe. As we’re aiming in creating great memories for everybody, we use creativity, enthusiasm and of course a little bit of the ‘Leprechaun magic’ we took away from Ireland!

So start packing and come to Varna, join us and help create unforgettable moments, be-cause a wise man once said: “life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breaths away!”

September 2007 saw EDSAdelegates descend on Dublin city for the 40th EDSA meeting.

The meeting started early for one delegate-Mr Houman Neshat of ACTA Amsterdam. Mr Neshat was decidedly worried when a waitress from Kennedy’s pub began to laugh as he ordered a glass of water. “I didn’t know what was happening” said Mr. Neshat. Past EDSA Treasurer Kevin Murphy shook his head and described the incidence as a “cultural faux pas”

Mr Neshat was later seen in a top Dublin lap dancing club…..somethings never change I guess!

The first night of the meeting started in The Gingerman Pub. Here delegates, both new and old, had an opportunity to catch up on the last six months. As always it was a pleasure to see everyone.

The next morning the work began and the 40th EDSA meeting got underway. A terrific input was received from all delegates…except Mo Kumar who was the victim of a childish attack the night before. No one has been charged with the incident and investigations are still on going.

A warm welcome was extended to new delegates Rebecca and Karthik form Leeds UK, and Neal Raval, BDSA President from Birmingham ,UK. Also to Barbara and Elisabeth from Vienna, Austria. Hopefully these new members will enjoy their time on EDSA and contribute to the organisation.

Much progress was achieved during the two days of meetings. Including the formation of a sponsorship group, a new magazine group with Marija Begovic elected as magazine editor Slovenian Nikolas as the social editor, and Emiliya Taneva as scientific editor.

A new EDSA Volunteer group was also formed. Hopefully this will materialise in the future and allow EDSA delegates to use their skills to help those in need.

The new Ex-Co for 2007-2008 was also elected: President-Lena Hosseinzadeh, General Secretary- Emily Taneva, Vice President- Didi Kuin, Treasurer- Daire Shanahan.

Following all the hard work, EDSA delegates had time to enjoy the spoils of Dublin. A trip to the Guinness factory and the Old Library inTrinity College were organised and a great time was had by all

The penultimate event of the EDSA meeting was of course EDSA-vision. This year Ireland was aiming for three in a row, having already won the title in Poland and Amsterdam. However the bar was set very high with outstanding cross dressing performances from the Swedes, and the big band sounds of Tom Jones from the UK delegates.

However, the worthy winners were the Slovenian boys with an “arousing” rendition of “ D**k in box”. A truly outstanding performance which will forever change the face of EDSA-vision. Congratulations to the boys!!

Overall the Dublin meeting was a success and we hope that everybody had a great time. You are all welcome to visit us at any time.

440th EDSA Meeting

Dublin ‘07

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EDSA Delegates arrive in Dublin

Slovenian Performance

Mr Kumar, the victim of a reckless at-tack. Forensic tests showed that the tooth-paste involved was indeed fluoridated.

“Deep down a woman is try-ing desperately hard to escape”- Shahed Madavi

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Global Dental Congress

Dublin ‘07

Awards for EDSA Dublin 2007Most likely to be in bed by 11pm: • Andrew Sullivan (Cardiff )

Most likely to have no pants on: • Houman Neshat (Amsterdam)

Best Curly Hair: • Paddy Barlow (Dublin)

Best Facial Hair: • Domagoj Vrazic (Croatia)

Best Old Age Pensioner (OAP): • Maya Dalai Mahzad(Sweden)

Ladies Man: • Darjan Knehtl (Slovenia)

Working group 9 of the Global Congress on Dental Education III

Dublin Castle was host to theGlobal Congress on Dental Education III from the 6-8th September 2007. It saw EDSA delegates past and present coming together along with other delegates from around the world.

The aim of the Dental Congress was to improve standards of dental education throughout the world so that the global community can benefit from better trained health professionals. The Congress consisted of 14 working groups all aiming at elevating standards in dental education.

EDSA delegates were involved in Working Group 9: The Academic Environment, the students’ perspective. The group consisted of EDSA delegates, along with delegates from Thailand, Malaysia ,UK and the US. The final report shall be published in a special addition of the European Journal of Dental Education and the American Journal of Dental Education in Spring 2008.

Reporter: Daire Shanahan, Irish delegate & EDSA Treasurer

Thanos and Kimon have their game faces on for the Global Congress.

The meeting was a high profile event with delegates being addressed by Dr. Mary Robinson the former UN High Commissioner and former President of Ireland. Sir Ian Chalmers, founder of the Cochrane Collaboration. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, leader of macroeconomics of global poverty. Professor David Wong of UCLA and Mrs Mary McAleese President of Ireland.

A warm thank you must be extended to Kimon Divaris who spent many hours co-ordinating dialogue between the delegates of Working Group 9 and writing the draft.

The final night of the congress ended with a Gala dinner in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. This was an opportunity for delegates to cement the bonds which were formed during the months of hard work leading up to the congress.

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Hello from Cardiff!!It’s been a busy term here… after a few days recovery from EDSA in Dublin the freshers’ events started with some good old fancy dress in the form of back2school and toga parties, and a buddy night in our social club for everyone in different years to get to know each other.

We’ve enjoyed the company of some Erasmus students from several countries including Norway, Lithuania, Turkey and France, and learnt a lot from their recent presentations about how their different curriculum’s work. A weekend visit from our Treasurer himself for the

School of Dentistry, University of Cardiff, Wales, UK

Tori, Gina and Becky

Karolinski Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Odontological Games in ScandinaviaThe Odonotlogical game, also called OG, is an event that takes place every year usually in the last weekend in September.

It is arranged by the city who was announced winner the previous year. The OG for 2008 will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The agenda of the OG consists of arrival on the Friday. In the evening a traditional march through the town towards the University will take place with every University being represented with their flags and singing.

The marsh will end up in at the students’ union house where the party will continue all night.

Reporter: Victoria Annabelle Gill, Cardiff delegate

Sully leading the way

Rugby World Cup quarter-final was a great chance to catch up and show off the sights (and pubs!) of Cardiff and its nightlife!

The social calendar has been packed all the way through… a trip to Bristol for our annual Halloween pub crawl was great fun and allowed plenty of freedom with facepaint and headgear!!

The dental masquerade ball was a great success again this year – held in the centre of town in City Hall we danced the night away and celebrated Sully’s success at the awards..!

Coming up next is the ski trip - we’re off to the French Alps for more fancy dress and frolics après-ski! Can’t wait to see you all for some sun and fun in Bulgaria in April! xx

Saturday morning is free time, and in the afternoon the games begin. The competition is between the cities representing, and its sports events that are announced at the time of arrival, so that is will be based on equal terms.

One of the sports events in Bergen, Norway, this year was to throw umbrellas, since Bergen has the second most rain days in the world.

In the evening a banquette is held at a fancy place with dinner and farcical behaviour the order of the day. The winner is announced during the evening also.

The prize is a walking trophy that circulates amongst the winners every year.

On Sunday everyone departs but not before saying their goodbyes. The event is a fantastic tradition and students from across Scandinavia look forward to it with insuppressibly excitement each year. Long may it last!!

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School of DentistryPristhina

and getting more and more dental experiences. But no matter where our exchange programs might take us, we always wonder how is that other part (not included in the official agenda of the program) is going to look like?! And by “other part” I mean the NIGHT LIFE.

Just imagine if you have to wake up in the middle of a “strange town”, you don’t know a single soul, apart from 3 students. And you know absolutely nothing about this town when it comes to the “other part”.

What’s more you have to stay there for the next two weeks! In the end of September there were 8 German students who decided to be part of an exchange program. Apparently part of a very unique exchange that they never thought could happen to them.

It’s true, their hard working days always finished: with some good Albanian food and dance, and of course some great parties and night life too!

After their 2 weeks of living “la vida loca” and farewell party; to better understand what they went through here is the list of what you should know if you happen to follow them in a similar EVP:

You will be real stars round the city1.

You are allowed to smoke inside bars,2.

Great food and cocktail prices in bars (roundabout you will get drunk for absolutely free)3.

Very thin girls, do they eat anything at all?! (male comment)4.

Extremely cool patients with some strange questions about you!5.

because of the exams and the autumn depression ! So we’ve woken people up with the first party which was organized by athletes in Belgrade Dental Students Association!

Than for book-worms we had a competition for exchange programs in Bucharest, and five students went to rock on with Irina and the rest of the Romanian crew!! They had fantastic 7 days! Now we are preparing a `special program` for Romanian, Austrian and Slovenian delegates, who are coming to Belgrade in March. We’ll do our best to be good hosts!!

After the Dublin meeting, we had the calm before the storm in October and November this was mostly

On November 14th , we organized a voluntary blood donation, reactions from staff and students in the School were fantastic!

Last week there was another party, which consisted of five hours of traditional Serbian music…no comment! Now back to reality, the December exam period is close, so we have to study!!! During the winter holidays, winter sports activities are available to our students through the many students discount cards available from the Belgrade Dental Student Association and the main Students Associations in Serbia and Europe!

In the New Year, hopefully will shall be visiting our dental friends from Macedonia. That’s all from Belgrade for now! Take care all!!!!!

Reporter: Zana SejfijaPristina delegate

We all know importance of Exchange Programs

Exchange students from Germany in Pristhina

University of Belgrade

Reporter: Marija Begovic, Serbian delegate &

EDSA Magazine Editor

Sully leading the way

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Austrian Dental Students Association Chronology

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September 1st-29th 2007 saw Serbian students Ilijana Kangrg and Ivan Vojinovic come to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the General Hospital in Vienna. We organised accommodation in a student hostel, lunch at the hospital and they got a lot of social program. They both were very content and happy and we are still in contact with them.

As a result of the big success of the Teddy bear hospital project in June, the association was asked to arrange another from the 12-13th of October. The second Teddy-bear Hospital was held in a public elementary school. Over 400 children together with their teddy-bears visited us. The dental clinic is a very important part of this project. With the aid of a dummy we showed the work of a dentist and with a dentition we showed the right way of brushing teeth. This time the right alimentation was another important point. We had riddles and tests about it. Children with the right answers got a little surprise! It was a big success for everyone and the next teddy-bearr hospital is underway!

The General Assembly of theAustrian medical and dental students association was held on the 4-5th of November 2007 deep in the mountains of Tyrol. New projects include writing a handout for starting dental students. The aim is to inform students about their study guide, the plan of all the institutes, important books they will need and the availability of financial help

Ambermad is another new project. A medical and social information centre in Vienna was built in 2004 for people without insurance coverage. Doctors, Nurses and medical students are working pro bono and helping locally. We as dental students offer our help and we are already in contact with them.

http://amber.diakonie.at/

We arranged a new social project with an orphanage in Kapong, Thailand. Students have the possibility to go to Kapong and teach children, help them and look after their medical care. It is not a typical dental program, but due to the fact that we are having human medicine courses before our dental education it is also suitable for dental students.

http://www.childrensworldacademy.com

Vienna General Hospital

Teddy bear hospital 2007

Reporter: Barbara Bitriol,Austrian delegate

Teddy bear hospital 2007

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Dental Project Snowboard & Ski 2007

Predeal, Romania

ence for everyone. After lunch we had our first workshop. One of our colleagues who is a Medical Manager in a bank, shared his experiences in the banking world with us and explained why it is important to have an open mind and take advantage opportunities when ever they may arise.

On the 2nd day – following a skiing trip, the workshops began with a representative from a Romanian bank ex-plaining how to obtain finance in the future. Then two representatives from a malpractice insurance company gave a presentation entitled “The risk management in a dental office and malpractice insurances”.

On Tuesday, we followed the rule “All the good days start with sport!”, with Barbara from Austria showed us why the Austrians get all the medals in skiing. Later that day the workshops resumed with talks from Prof. Dr. Oltean, Dr. Bogdan Popa, Dr. Dan Caminescu and Dr.

Mihnea Ni-colescu who discussed the options avail-able for post-graduate spe-c i a l i s a t i o n . A s s i s t a n t Dean Prof. A l e x a n d r u Petre – Fac-ulty of Den-tistry Bucha-rest, discussed “The require-ments for be-

coming a good practitioner”.

Emiliya (EDSA General Secretary) kindly gave a pre-sentation about EDSA. Barbara (EDSA delegate) talked about the Austrian dental system and also the opportuni-ties for postgraduate studies in Vienna. Next year we are going to invite at least 5 EDSA delegates. That day we also visited the Susai Cottage and of course partied into the early hours.

In order to improve the project, everybody said what they disliked during that week and also suggested some topics for Dental Project 2008…

Reporter: Irina Dragan, Romanian delegate

Professional Camp,already in its 3rd year this winter, took place in Predeal, a mountain resort in Romania – between 15th and 21st of De-cember. It was organized by the National Union of Dental Associations and the League of Students in Dental Medicine from Bucharest.

We had participants from different dental schools in Roma-nia: Bucharest, Timisoara, Iasi and Cluj- Napoca. We also decided to invite EDSA delegates, so Emiliya Taneva (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Barbara Bitriol (Vienna, Austria ) joined us.

The aim of the project was to motivate stu-dents, in order for them to get more involved in the stu-dents’ associa-tion and also to challenge them with the subjects that we would be discussed dur-ing the event. As the number of participants was limited to a maximum of 25, the Ro-manian students selected had to pass an interview.

The first Dental Project in 2005 consisted of 15 student participants and 2 assistant professors from our uni-versity. Some themes discussed included “How do we choose our dental team–assistant, technician, hygien-ist”, and “Basic knowledge in project management”.

In Dental Project 2006 – the number of participants rose to 18 students with the President of the Romanian Soci-ety of Medical Management – Dr. Grigore Lazarescu joined for the main subject in discussion, “The importance of man-agement in dentistry”.

All 23 participants from the Dental Project 2007 continued in the same atmosphere this year as before. Special programs such as skiing, snowboarding and skating were organised in the morning while workshops were scheduled for the after-noon.

This year the main topic of the event was “Options for a young dentist: specialization, academic environment, private dental office”. We had the honour of having Dr. Alexandru Brezoes-cu, the President of the Romanian Dentists Association, to help us answers questions, regarding the main theme.

First day of “work” started with paint balling in the forest, where the snow was more than 30cm.. an interesting experi-

Irina, Barbara and Emiliya

Hi ho hi ho its of to work we go

It’s been a busy term forDublins fourth year students as they organise fund raising events for DOVE (Dental Overseas Voluntary Elective)

DOVE sees 4th year Dublin dentistry students travel to an array of exotic locations during the summer months in order to help those in need of dental treatment. Last year students travelled to places such as Peru, Brazil, Cambodia and China, just to mention a few.

Some fantastic nights have already been organised to date including the Halloween Party which saw Paddy Barlow dressed as Duff man from The Simpsons, Mo Kumar as

Captain Jack Sparrow and Daire Shanahan as Vicky Pollard from Little Britain.

The penultimate event of any DOVE campaign is the Christmas Ball which was held in the Davenport Hotel in November. A great night was had by all, especially those draped in tinsel…you know who you are!! A warm thank you must be extended to the Dove Executive Committee who invested a lot of time and effort into organising the event. A number of events are in the pipeline for the rest of the year. Hopefully much funds will be raised for this great cause.

Best wishes from Dublin- Paddy, Daire and Mo.

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Vicky, Duff man and Captain Sparrow

Daire and Mo at the Christmas Ball

Reporter: Daire Shanahan, Irish delegate & EDSA Treasurer

Dublin Dental School and

Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

Aristotle University

Thessaloniki, Greece

Our academic community isa vital organization. Both students and academic staff constantly try to find ways to be up to date concerning dental and cultural issues.

During the last five months our school has held many seminars in a new building, which was built to accommodate the University’s needs for seminars and postgraduate research programs.

On the 25th of September Dr. Frauke Muller, professor of the Department of Prosthodontics at the University of Geneva, gave a very interesting lecture. Moreover, on the 28th of January the Dental School of New York University presented their Postgraduate Programs and Dr. Brendan C’Connor (Professor of Maxillofacial Surgery) spoke about “Indications for Reconstruction of the Temporomandibular Joint”. During

the same month, finally, undergraduate students organized a seminar about the “Aesthetic Dental Restorations”.

Furthermore, some departments with the cooperation of companies presented novel materials and methods. One example of such presentations is the one held on the 5th of December at the department of Periodontology and Biology of Implants with EMS Company concerning the use of ultrasonic devices and new machines. Undergraduate and postgraduate students of our school participated in numerous Greek, European, and global conferences.

Our interests, however, are not only focused on academic achievements. Many of the students’ political parties published newspapers and organized scientific meetings, parties and of course excursions!! Our university is kept rhythmically tuned by organizing concerts and other cultural ceremonies!

So, if we intrigued your curiosity… do join us on one of our forthcoming events or alternatively visit us on www.dent.auth.gr.

Reporter: Betty Bosna, Greek delegate

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The primary aim of UNECD is to inform dental students of new projects, laws, and reforms in the dental profession. Another function of UNECD is to put forward students’ point of views to politicians and trade unions.

A total of three meetings are held during the academic year. The first meeting, hosted in Bordeaux, was in early October. Top of the agenda was a discussion regarding a new law proposed by President Sarkozy which would see Dentists relocated to rural and sub-urban zones where services are currently limited. This topic of decentralisation was discussed in details. Another aspect of this new law was to increase the number of new entries into dental schools despite the clear lack of information on how these extra places would be created. Current evidence collated during the meeting suggests that most students tend to work in their childhood towns or the city where they studied. This evidence would suggest that future dentists would be forced to work in areas that they would not normally wish to settle in.

The topic of “active training” was also discussed. The programme sees sixth year students work two hundred hours in a private surgery under supervision.

The final day in Bordeaux saw the election of a new Executive Committee, with Julien Ventura voted in as our new president

The new committee soon met with other students in Paris in November during the Congress of Association Dentaire Francaise (ADF). Here they had the opportunity to meet fellow students and discuss pressing issues.

Reims was host to the Formation Meeting in January. Here we had the chance to talk with some trade unions, regarding the dogmatic opinion of older generations believing that upcoming students were a “vacations’ generation” or “hobbies’ generation”. This older generation was also regarded by some as an obstacle to the further introduction of women into the profession.

Our next congress will be held in Lyon in April just before the EDSA Congress.

Union Nationale des Etudiantsen Chirurgie Dentaire (UNECD), the French dentistry students’ association, is comprised of students from the sixteen dentistry schools in France.

Reporter: Marine Lafont, French delegate

Union Nationale des Etudiants

en Chirurgie Dentaire (unecd)France

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The Slovenian DentalStudents’ International Committee (SIDSIC) has seen another academic year pass and a new one get underway, bringing plenty of issues to the forefront and promises to fulfil. The SIDSIC started on a similar path as usual however the steps made this year were a bit different.

A fresh bunch of first year students entered the school and more or less wondered around with eyes wide open, giving us that »fight or flight« look. For that reason we organized an information week to help them understand what dental school is all about and what to expect in the future. Presentations were held about the dental students internet page, our student association and its connections with national as well as international organisations such as EDSA (European Dental Student Association) and IADS (International Association of Dental

Reporter: Nikola Molnar, Slovenian delegate &

EDSA Magazine Co-editor

Students). However, we emphasized that information sharing, team spirit and good relations among students are things that matter just as much.

After »formal« introductions and motivational speeches filled with »carpe diem« suggestions of how to maximize efficacy at our faculty completed, »carpe noctem« is an inseparable part of student life! So we had a party…

Three dots are not there by mistake, they serve for: »you all know it was unforgettable, even though some managed to forget how it was…« However, even though info-week was over, the show had to go on .

We had a traditional bowling competition among students (hmm, we could have invited teaching staff as well…) and it was very amusing, especially for the ones who tried it for the first time.

One of the major events is the so-called Motivational weekend. Over 50 enormously motivated students attended and were packed

in a cottage for three days. In short, workshops (EDSA of course got one), cinema, presentations, sports (rowing, basketball etc.) and good company night and day was the name of the game. These are the words to describe it-Can’t wait for the next one!

In April this year we will welcome students from Belgrade (Serbia) and Stockholm (Sweden) for a visit to our faculty. The event is organized through the nice and simple EVP (EDSA Visiting Programme). Looking forward to seeing you soon!

SIDSICLjubljana, Slovenia

Motivational Weekend- Workshops & Games

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The EDSA Visiting Program (EVP) gives students the greatest opportunity to visit other dental schools in foreign countries for a couple of days or weeks.

In November 2007, thirteen students from Bucharest and Ljubljana were at-tracted to this pro-gram and decided to visit the dental school in Sofia. They partici-pated in many pre-clinical and clinical classes exploring the diversity of methods and approaches in the unfamiliar educational system and bringing over the idea that goals are not always reached in the same way. During the meetings with the academic authorities, educators and host students, Romanian and Slove-nian guests discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each curriculum, health care issues, students’ activities

EDSA Visiting ProgramRomania- Slovenia- Bulgaria

and interests and their common wish of creating and promoting more exchanges in the future.

Naturally, students focused not only on the edu-cational part of the exchange. A walking city tour broadened their views about the eclectic mix of cus-toms, turbulent local history and national treasures. A trip to the picturesque medieval capital of Bul-garia, Veliko Tarnovo, in the perfect companion of traditional B u l g a r i a n cuisine and wines made the experi-ence unfor-

gettable.

Worth mentioning is the nightlife in the city which never sleeps. Each night in a club with different music en-couraged students to socialize and load with energy through-out the next day.

The company of our Slovenian and Romanian friends during the one sleepless week left us an imperishable memory and they will always remain in our hearts.

Reporter: Emiliya Taneva, EDSA General Secretary &

Web Editor

Slovenian Delegation in front of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia

The Slovenians with their Bulgarian hosts at Tsarevets fortress in Veliko Tarnovo

Our Romanian colleagues in the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Sofia

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International Association of Dental Students (IADS)

As the name says,IADS stays for International Association of Dental Students. It was formed in 1951 when French students invited other dental students from all around the world to Paris. Later, the same year, in September a first congress was held in Copenhagen where the first Executive Committee was voted into office and IADS started with its activities.

Today, 56 years later, IADS is still alive, joining more then 20 countries from all over the world in one big happy family. We have two annual meetings, mid-year meting which is in February and an annual congress in August. Each meeting has a pre and post congress, where we gather together, see the country and meet up with old friends.

Our main activities are exchange programs which give students the opportunity to visit other universities, cities and countries and through that broaden their horizons and make new friends through out the world. Another big project we are part of is voluntary work. Just recently we have joined a big and respected organization called “Healthcare volunteer” which are providing us with voluntary programs in seven countries. This is a great opportunity to experience dentistry in a whole new level and provide help for those that really need it.

For me IADS is something amazing. I have been apart of the family since summer 2006 when I participated in

the congress in Sudan. I got there by a coincidence as the president of our organization couldn’t go and he sent me instead. First I found it cool that I could travel to countries that I never even imagined I would go to and then I was simply amazed with the kindness of the people there.

You all know the feeling of going somewhere and not knowing any one. It is a little weird. After a day or two it was unbelievable how well we connected and I had the feeling that we knew each other for ages. I made some really good friends there and each meeting I met many more interesting people. After a great week in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, we headed south to small villages around Wad Madani. There I could experience for the first time the beauties of voluntary work. I can not de-scribe in words the feelings you get helping other people and how grateful they are. When I showed the pictures to somebody he said: »those are the poorest people I have ever seen, but they also have the biggest smiles I have ever seen«. I think this sentence perfectly describes everything

and the feelings... you just have to try it out yourself...

After Sudan we had a wonderful meeting in Georgia and Hungary where we could experience skiing in the Caucasian mountains and night swimming in the Balaton lake, enjoy delicious food and drinks and of course party the whole week.

It is truly magical to see how IADS unites people from all over the world, regardless of age, sex, religion and all other

differences we might have. Here different is better and everybody is always welcome.

Reporter: Tomaz Spindler, IADS Treasurer

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News In Brief

The Sponsorship Grouphas been very active and has made huge progress in achieving their goals. Thanks to Emilia Taneva, Sarah Yagoub-Zadeh, Irina Dragan, Betty Bosna, Julien Ventura, and Barbara Bitriol for all their hard work!

EDSA Magazineis currently being put together. So any articles would be greatly appreciated. Marija Begovic and Nikola Molnar are doing a fantastic job…keep up the good work!

Publications...Thanks to Alison Miller of W&H who has kindly used her contacts to spread the word of EDSA in a multitude of magazines, including the British Dental Journal!

The New Website will hopefully be on-line soon. Thanks to all the work done by Emilia Taneva, Sebastian Scarlat, Vedran Santak and Goce Naunov!

The 41st EDSA Meeting, 1st EDSA Dental Olympic Games and 7th EDSA Congress is in Varna, Bulgaria from the 21st-27th April 2008!

The Voluntary Work Grouphas put lots of efforts in the final draft of the project. It was submitted to FDI in December and we are all keeping our fingers crossed. Special thanks to Lena, Nikola, Tassos and Marjaneh!

Congratulationsto Domagoj Vrazic (Immediate Past EDSA President), Kevin Murphy (Immediate Past EDSA Treasurer) and Christine Smith (Cardiff Delegate) who graduated recently!

Bulletin Board AnnouncementsNote that the next newsletter will be distributed in Summer 2008.

All articles for inclusion in this edition must be submitted no later than June 10th 2008.We welcome any suggestions from our delegates regarding the content of the newsletter, and all ideas regarding future editions are greatly welcomed.

We hope to run a new section on delegates, who have recently graduated, as well as past delegates and what they are doing now.

Please contact Daire Shanahan via e-mail at daire.shanahan@yahoo.ie for further information.

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Fun & Games Dental History Facts

In 1866 Lucy Beaman Hobbs became the first licensed female dentist.

In 1986, the winner of the National Spelling Bee won by spelling ODONTALGIA (which means toothache).

In Egypt, mummies have been found with tooth fillings of resin and malachite. Loose teeth were held together with gold wire.

Ancient Greeks used pumice, talc, alabaster, coral powder or iron rust as toothpaste.

Blacksmiths in early America often served as Dentists also.

In 1905 dental assistant Irene Newman was trained to clean teeth. She became the first Dental Hygienist.

The average amount of money left by the Tooth Fairy in 1950 was 25 cents. In 1988 it was $1.00.

The earliest dentist known by name is Hesi-Re. He lived in Egypt over 5000 years ago.

The first toothbrushes were tree twigs. Chewing on the tips of the twigs spread out the fibers, which were then used to clean the teeth.

George Washington never had wooden teeth. His dentures were made from Gold, hippopotamus tusk, elephant ivory and human teeth!!

In 201 AD the Romans were dental experts - using gold crowns and fixed bridgework, and a paste made of ground eggshell and honey to clean the teeth.

Source: www.valleydentalgroup.net

EDSA Newsletter EditorDaire Shanahan daire.shanahan@yahoo.ie

EDSA Newsletter Graphic DesignEmiliya Tanevaem.taneva@gmail.com