Adjunct Faculty Feature: Returning to Schulich
Winter 2024/2025
We are very excited to welcome back a group of former Schulich Dentistry graduates to our adjunct teaching team!
- Dr. Tamara Chau, DDS’24
- Dr. Alyssa Walter, DDS’24
- Dr. Don Lee, DDS’21
- Dr. Ankit Shah, DDS’21
- Dr. Mohamad Abu Sharkh, DDS’20
- Dr. Adam Hasanee, DDS’20
- Dr. Abdulhalim Abdulrahman, DDS’15 (pictured above, right)
- Dr. Yufeng Zuo, DDS’14
- Dr. Nehal Al-Tarhuni, DDS’09 (pictured above, left)
- Dr. Ramez Salti, DDS’07
- Dr. Frank Ferreira, DDS’90
We checked in with the incoming professors, who will be teaching across our clinics, to ask a few questions about their return. Their enthusiasm about connecting with future students and past instructors flowed through their responses.
I’m looking forward to providing students with some insight on what new grad life is like, along with inspiring them to help out in the London community and hopefully carry this on wherever they go to practise,” shared one of our 2024 graduates, Dr. Alyssa Walter. “I am excited to mentor students in their journeys to become dentists...and helping to apply that to a career outside of Schulich!”
Dr. Walter, who will be teaching in an off campus rotation at the Wright Clinic, also shared that her recent experience in dental school will help her to connect with the students because she can relate to what they are going through as they approach graduation themselves.
Dr. Nehal Al-Tarhuni (pictured above, left) is back after a ten-year hiatus from teaching at Schulich Dentistry, having been part of the adjunct team from 2009-2014. She is particularly looking forward to inspiring young dental students from equity deserving backgrounds. The recipient of the 2024 Schulich Alumni Award of Distinction - Young Alumni (Dentistry) Award, Dr. Al-Tarhuni looks back on her former days at Western with fondness and is excited to be back to meet with old friends and teachers. She has already found the semester to be extremely fulfilling so far, and has been particularly impressed with the Muslim Dental Student Association's leadership. “It makes it well worth taking time away from my young family to invest with these amazing future dental professionals,” Dr. Al-Tarhuni enthused.
Dr. Yufeng Zuo, a dentist who spent a decade learning at Schulich and told us that when doing his PhD in Pathology, he assisted in some undergraduate and graduate teaching. “I met so many great teachers at Western,” he said, when asked what motivated him to teach at Schulich Dentistry. “They have motivated me to give back to the school and teach the new generation of students.”
Dr. Abdulhalim Abdulrahman (pictured above, right) also seeks to give back to the school and pass on knowledge to the new generation of dentists in the paediatric clinic. When asked about his favourite memory of dental school, he was quick to respond. “Dr. Lapointe's classes and surprise quizzes.”
Dr. Ramez Salti's favourite memory, on the other hand, was showing Rick Mercer how to drill in the Sim Clinic. Dr. Salti is eager to serve patients' dental needs within the context of education, describing academics as “a sacred place of learning from each other.” He calls our school “the best in the world,” and we happen to agree.
I'm looking forward to getting to know all of our returning graduates better. Welcome back!
