FAQs

A: The Australian Dental Students' Association (ADSA) is a student organisation which represents dental and oral health students across Australia. We provide resources and organise events with the aim of supporting your education, allowing means to network between schools, and provide a voice for the dental and oral health students of Australia.

A: Sign up for your free ADSA membership here. 
If you would also like to access the ADSA Online Community, you will need to sign up for a free ADA student membership here.

A: Become a part of the ADSA community will mean you keep up to date with the major issues, events and scholarships relevant to you and the dental community. You will gain an insight into other dental universities and benefit from resources exclusive to ADSA members such as online lectures by highly regarded specialists and discounts on selected dental companies. We are also your voice for bringing any issues in the student or general dental community that you feel the need to be raised with authoritative bodies.

A: There are zero costs to becoming an ADSA member, and so many benefits!

A: Our largest event of the year is the ADSA Convention. Students from across the country fly into an elected city and are united during a week of academic and social events which are sure to inspire and create lifelong friendships. Throughout the year we also host:

• R U OK Day: Promoting mental health amongst the dental community
• Red Cross Health Students Blood Challenge: A friendly competition between student health faculties to encourage blood donation
• ADSA Talks: An educational series bringing some of the country's most renowned speakers to each dental/oral health university in Australia.
• University Spotlight: Each Australian dental/oral health university gets their turn in the spotlight throughout the year, showing ADSA members what their colleagues from around the country get up to.

A: We regularly update our social media platforms:

• via our ADSA Online Community
• Facebook
• Instagram

Fill out the Contact Us form on the website to be added our mailing list or to find out how to join our Online Community. This will also ensure you get the latest news about upcoming events, opportunities and competitions.

A: 

• E-mail info@adsa.org.au
• Get in touch with your University's ADSA Representative
• Message us on Facebook
• Fill out the Contact Us form on the website. 

A: 

• To practice in Australia, you will have to register with the Dental Board of Australia (DBA). To do this, most overseas dental practitioners will need to sit a series of exams provided by the Australian Dental Council (ADC). However, some overseas dental practitioners are exempt from the assessment and examination process. Please refer to the Dental Board of Australia's website for more information about the pathways to registration.
• AHPRA also has guidelines on the requirements of overseas practitioners to practice.

A: You have two options:   

1. You may choose to apply for the decision to be reviewed, and if you are still not satisfied with the outcome, then you could also appeal the decision. This is outlined in the ADC's Appeals Policy for the Assessment of Qualifications, Skills and Work Experience . You should be aware you must apply for a review within 28 days from notification of the decision. You are also welcome to discuss the matter with the ADC directly, either via phone or email. 
2. If you choose not to apply for review, the only other option is to complete an accredited and approved program of study that meets the Dental Board of Australia's requirements for registration as a dentist. There are nine education providers that offer programs that enable graduates to apply to register as a dentist. Each have different entry requirements so you would need to research each university online or contact them directly to discuss eligibility.

A: Communities are groups of discussions, you may be a member of just one or perhaps many communities.

A: Go to “Communities” in the main navigation bar. Select “My Communities” to view the communities you currently belong to.

A: Contact the Community Administrator at membership@ada.org.au to request to leave the ADSA Community.

A: In your profile click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu.  Your options for notifications are:

• Real time: sends a notification (app and email) every time a new message is posted.
• Daily digest: sends one email to you each day, consolidating all of the posts from the previous day.
• No Email: allows you to be part of the group without having emails sent to you. You can still post and read others' messages by logging into the community site.
• Consolidated Digest: Allows you to combine multiple communities into one notification email. 

Please note if you wish to unsubscribe from ADSA (not community) emails you can do so by clicking unsubscribe on the email. 

A: On the site, go to “Participate" > “Post a message.” From an email for a particular discussion group, you can use the “Post Message” link located at the top of the discussion email. Each community also has a unique email address. Save that to your address book, and easily start a new post like you would a regular email.

A: To respond to a post, first click on the post to open it in full, then to the top right you can click on  “Reply" to post your reply to the community.  To send a private reply only to the author of the post, click “Reply Privately” (located in the "Reply" drop-down menu).

A: Your login credentials are the same username and password that you use to log in to the Federal ADA website. ADSA Community

A: Please navigate to your profile page, then select the "My Account" tab and choose "Privacy Settings" from the drop-down menu. This will let you control what information is visible to whom.  After you've made changes, click the “Save Changes” button at the bottom of the page.

A: If images are not appearing, it is likely that your email client is set to suppress images. This should be something you can change in your security or viewing options. If you would rather receive text-based email, go to your profile page and click on the "My Account" tab. Choose "Community Notifications" from the drop-down menu. Select the “Plain Text” format option for each of the discussions you are subscribed to.

A: Yes, please enter a keyword in the search bar located in the main navigation. To refine your search results, select one or more filters from the menu on the left side.

A: If you know which community the resources might have been uploaded to, go to the community and click on the “Library” tab.

A: The ADSA community library is populated in two ways:

1. Resources are attached/added to a post, which in turn saves the resource to the library.
2. Resources are directly uploaded to the library. Anyone can add a resource by clicking on participate” then selecting “Share a file” or by clicking on the Library tab and then on "Create Entry".

A: The system supports dozens of file types including hyperlinks, standard files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), webinars, images and YouTube videos.

A: Tags are great way to organise and categorise content on your site. Tags can be applied to blogs, library entries, events, and glossary terms.  Tagged items are prioritised in the search results.