British Dental Students' Association
The British Dental Students' Association (BDSA) is a student body run by an annually elected Executive Committee and student representatives from each UK dental school.
The association was founded in 1942 and today represents over 5,000 dental students in the UK.The BDA and BDSA are two separate organisations that work closely together.
The BDA is the trade union and professional association for dentists and dental students. Whilst the BDSA is a voluntary run organisation, run by dental students, to look after the social side of student life.
Students who form the BDSA Committee are known as BDA reps and have two roles. They sit on the BDSA Committee to support the annual social events and the BDA Student Committee to represent students at their dental school and deal with political matters.
Aims
- Promote the educational and social interests of the dental students of the UK
- Represent dental students on a national and international level
- Promote integration between all dental students
- Campaign amongst the profession and beyond to champion the views of dental students
- Organise two annual national events: sports day and conference
Meetings
Meetings take place twice a year at the BDA offices in London. Two representatives from each school, plus the BDSA Executive Committee members, are invited to attend each meeting.
The BDSA meeting normally takes place in the morning, followed by the BDA Student Committee meeting in the afternoon.
Expenses are paid for all attendees. Students must be BDA members in order to claim expenses.
If you are interested in representing your school, read more about the role and responsibilities of committee members. If you have further questions, then either speak to your school BDA rep or email students@bda.org.
Constitution
The constitution outlines the mission and aims of the BDSA, plus sets out membership policy and roles of the executive committee. It also provides guidance to each executive committee to carry out their duties responsibly.
European Dental Students Association (EDSA)
One of the aims of the BDSA is to represent dental students on an international level. It works closely with the European Dental Students Association (EDSA) to do this. The EDSA represents over 65,000 European dental students and aims to link dental students across social, political and clinical aspects of dentistry.