1. Creating a profile
The first, essential step to participating in the GCDFund Dental Electives website is to create a personal account. Click the ‘register’ link and fill in your user details:
- username
- email address
- password
- your dental school
- qualifying year
You can include a profile picture, and adding your social media details will make it easy for you to promote your project – and potentially earn rewards from GCDFund.
2. Creating a project
Follow the ‘Create a project’ link in the header navigation. If you are not signed in, you’ll be asked to provide your login details (or you can sign in automatically through your Facebook account).
Creating a project is straightforward. You will be asked to fill a number of fields over two pages. Below is a concise list of the content that will be required, and you can also view a sample project.
Uploading an image
- this will be displayed alongside your project. Please ensure you own the copyright as GCDFund will not be held liable for copyright infringements
Project title
- in order to be easily searchable, your title should include the key subject area(s) the project covered and where it took place
Project description
- a concise overview of your project, maximum 150 characters
Drop down menus:
- Target group: select the group your project covered (children, women, seniors, special care or under-served)
- Start/finish date: select when your project starts and finishes; these dates can be in the past or in the future.
- Project location: select the country in which your project took place
- Project year: select the academic year in which you undertook your project
Text fields:
- Project aim: the problem(s) your project aims to solve or explore
- Project funding: how you are financing your project
- Educational value of project: the skills and capabilities the student has practiced/gained by undertaking the project
- Project conclusion: the knowledge or results that can be drawn from the project, and any advice to students attempting similar projects
Project media: upload further images to display
Document upload: upload a PDF, Word or PowerPoint document to support your project
3. Publishing a project
When the project fields have have been filled out (with the exception of the Project Conclusion field, which can be filled out once the project has been completed), you will be able to add your project to the moderator queue. Press ‘Save’. Once it has passed the moderator’s checks, your project will be published on the site.
4. Editing and updating your project details
To edit or update your project, log into your account. Click on the project you want to edit in the ‘your projects’ queue, and you will then be able to edit any of the fields. Remember to save your changes.
5. Promoting your project with social media
GCDFund encourages the sharing of project progress through other sites such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. For instance, to increase the profile of your project you can create a Facebook page that your contacts can ‘like’, or you tweet your project breakthroughs and conclusions.
