About IADS

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

the IADS was founded in the year 1951 in Kopenhagen/Denmark – thus since more than 57 years it is known to dental students from all over the world, serving as a platform for exchange of knowledge and experiences about dentistry at an international level. As the only worldwide association for dental students, we represent the future members of the dental profession at a worldwide level. Our Central Office is at FDI World Dental Federation Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The main goal of IADS always has been to unite the world’s dental students, to give them the opportunity to meet and discuss about their education, their profession and their future as a dentist. And a side effect of this was and is livelong friendships between people who would never have met without the Association.

As the only worldwide association for dental students, the main goal of IADS is the representation of the coming members of the dental profession.

Like in every student organization this has not always been very easy. Thanks to several eager students who gave big efforts to run this association it is still alive and well known to lots of colleagues as the IADS Family.

Nowadays the IADS Family is counting 36 country and school members and is glad about its close contact to the FDI (World Dental Federation – the Central Office of IADS is at FDI Headquarters in Ferney-Voltaire in France), to YDW (Young Dentists Worldwide) and to other organizations like the EDSA (European Dental Students Association), APDSA (Asian Pacific Dental Students Association), IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Students’ Association) and more.

A six-person Executive Committee is responsible for the management of the Association’s affairs. It is their job to realize the ideas and decisions which were made together with the national representatives of the IADS member countries during the IADS meetings.

Current Activities

• With its International Students’ Exchange Programme (ISEP) IADS made it possible for more than 400 dental students a year to realize an exchange to a dental faculty of another member country in the last years.
• With its Annual World Congress it still provides the unique opportunity to all colleagues to meet at one place on the globe (recent congresses were held in  Khartoum / Sudan in 2006 and finally Lake Balaton / Hungary in 2007, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt 2008, Iasi, Romania 2009, Brno, Czech Republic 2010, Delhi, India 2011 and many more.
• The IADS E-mail group and group on Facebook is used by hundreds of dental  students and dentists, where dental cases and news about dentistry are being discussed. Many students communicate also via Facebook.com in the IADS- Group, especially new countries found the contact to IADS via that platform
• Through the SCORE (Standing Committee on Research and Education – created during the IADS Congress in Egypt in 2002) dental science and education shall become more important in the future of IADS – several programmes have been started, e.g. the collection of a database of all postgraduate courses at dental faculties in the whole world in order to present them on the IADS website. One of its most important project is of course International Dental Research Exchange Program, which is similar to ISEP and gives students opportunity to conduct a research          abroad.
• IADS Voluntary Work Abroad, we focus on promoting help to those in eed, to those who may not have the luxury to regular dental checkups. Dental students that go trough our program are volunteers and this is a great opportunity for them to experience new prospective of dentistry and conditions of work while helping those in need.
• The IADS Newsletter (the Summer Edition 2011 is going to be distributed during and after the next congress) which shall inform about what happened in the dental world.

What activities are organised for members?

As well as the Annual World Congress of Dental Students, we offer many things at an international level to our members. These are accessible to each and every dental student in the member countries, and include an International Student Exchange Programme, which allows students to visit a foreign country and experience its culture and its dentistry, both scientifically and clinically.

In collaboration with the World Health Organisation, we run a Voluntary Work Abroad Scheme, which allows students to experience primary oral healthcare in a developing country. This work with the WHO developed from our participation in the WHO’s Global Consultation on Oral Health Sciences Education during the World Year of Oral Health in 1994.

Future Goals

Since our congress in Sudan 2006 the Executive Committees are working hard in order to settle a structure which shall provide a safer continuity of IADS engagement for the future.

By this, following Executive Committees shall be relieved of lots of basic work after their election. And by this their service and the representation of their colleagues shall become even more the midpoint of their work.

But never forget, the Association is your Association, it depends on everybody’s contribution!

We are also looking forward to having the Young Dentists Worldwide with us and so both the Congress Committee and the IADS Executive Committee hope to make it an unforgettable week in for all our participants.

We hope the congress in India will be an unforgettable experience for all of the participants, and we can show you both, the IADS and also the Indian spirit.

Let your life change, grab the spirit!

Who can be a member?

National and local associations of dental students are eligible for membership. Presently we have member associations in many countries, representing some 200,000 dental students around the world.

When an association joins, all its members become members of IADS. There is no membership for individuals at the present time.

How often does the Association meet?

We meet twice annually. The main meeting is our Annual World Congress of Dental Students, held each August. This meeting typically attracts around 200 participants. It centres on a scientific programme of lectures and seminars addressing the needs of the dental student, but also includes workshop discussions, an organised social programme and the various business meetings of the Association. Recent congresses have been held in Istanbul, Turkey (2003); Berlin, Germany (2004); Prague, Czech Republic (2005); Khartoum, Sudan (2006) and Balaton, Hungary (2007), Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (2008).

A small Mid Year Meeting (MYM), whose programme is devoted to business meetings, is held each February-March.

English is used as the common language at all our meetings.

Who runs the Association?

Each member association sends their representatives to the General Assembly, which meets during the Congress and Mid Year Meeting. Here we follow the rules and regulations in our Constitution.

A six-person Executive Committee, headed by the President, is responsible for day to day management of the Association’s affairs.