The Advance Standing Committee

Committee Chairs:

  • Aarti Bhardwaj
  • Natasha Alexis Lim

In line with the mission of ASDA, UCLA’s Advance Standing Committee is a dental-school-based, student-run committee that aims for the improvement, protection, and advancement of the rights, interests, and welfare of international dental students. It contributes to the introduction of international students to lifelong involvement in organized dentistry and aids in providing services, information, education, representation, and advocacy for this student group.

We give voice to UCLA’s Professional Program for International Dentists (PPID). Our aim is to blend international students more easily, quickly, and smoothly with the rest of our student body. We avoid terms like “international student committee” and “PPID committee” both to avoid the separation of students and to create a presentable and implementable committee for other ASDA chapters.

Committee Goals

This committee addresses one of the biggest concerns of international students (PPIDs): the difficulties they face with getting involved in student activities. This is due in part to their international backgrounds, which makes comparisons of their CVs to those of regular students difficult. In part, however, this is also due to PPIDs being unfamiliar with the American approach to student activities.

Thus, this committee hopes to grant PPIDs opportunities to cherish their international backgrounds while also exploring leadership activities, building CVs, blending more easily and smoothly with their fellow student body, and enriching their overall experiences at UCLA.

Contact Information