End-Of-Year Conversation With UADS Executives On Manifesto Deliverables; President, Omotoso Kehinde
Opinions On The General State Of The Association
The beginning of the tenure was not exactly the best. With only two of the executives having prior executive experience, a lot of showing the ropes and motivation was needed. However, after a period of adjustment, all are up to speed and are doing well in their respective roles. Also, initial financial setbacks at the beginning of the tenure have been overcome through diligent efforts. Carried-over and new projects have been successfully implemented with sourced funding.
Public Speaking Training
It is important to note that all Literary and Debating societies in the clinical arms are considered under the umbrella body of the Alexander Brown Hall Literary and Debating Society. That being said, before the JAWWAR 2024 debacle, training was going on under the departmental head(supervisor) of the Dentistry Literary and Debating Society. Also, preclinical members have been encouraged to join their hall L&Ds and participate actively there. This will ensure that there is development of public speaking skills among interested association members.
Monthly Newsletters
The General Secretary oversees the publication of the newsletters, and the publication has continued.
Mentor-mentee Program
There will be a review of this program and a survey to assess the program’s relevance and usefulness. The previous edition was plagued with inactivity due to participants underestimating the program's requirements when signing up.
Externship Program
The externship program for the final-year class, first introduced in the previous tenure, took place on October 13, 2024, spanning one week.The program is held in various locations, including the UCH Dental School and private clinics in Ibadan and Lagos. It is modeled after the elective postings in the MBBS curriculum and has become an integral part of the BDS calendar, with authorities actively involved.
Career Talks
Career talks in secondary schools will be continued this tenure. The “A Child, A Paste, A Brush” program, last held in 2022, should continue next year. The goal of the program is to promote oral health awareness and careers in dentistry, among secondary school students. The challenge now is funding, which is still being sourced.
Oral Health Education Within the College of Medicine Community
This, along with the radio shows on oral health, is planned to run under the soon-to-be-commissioned College of Medicine e-Learning hub, where podcasts and other educational content will be hosted. While this is all tentative, the goal is to disseminate oral health information within the hospital and external communities.
Diaspora Mentorship Programs For Final-Year Students
This is scheduled to hold much closer to the end of the tenure. The aim is to help final-year students be assured of the level to which their plans for outside school will truly fly. It is to help more students to truly have some of “it” figured out. (it being life after graduation). Plans are being made for a webinar, to be held close to the end of the tenure.
Contacting The Newly Established Alumni Body For Funding Of Projects
As far as the umbrella body of the UDAN is concerned, there haven’t been any recent meetings. The UDAN has not convened a meeting that has to do with the association and students in a while. That being said, efforts to source funds from individual alumni are ongoing.
Health Week
Work has started, and the call for committee members should not be misconstrued as the first step taken. A lot of work has gone and is still going on regarding the health week. The challenge here, the rate-limiting step, is when people don't join committees, participate effectively and creatively in said committees, pay dues as required, and do any other thing required of them.
Salami Wisdom
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