Dean's Message
Schulich Dentistry is experiencing a renewal. From the strategic plan work being guided by thoughtful and creative leaders to the renovations and improved teaching facilities and the installation of new technology and equipment – change is taking place and strengthening the educational experience for our students.
For the past two years, I’ve been working very closely with Dr. Richard Bohay, and have watched as dedicated faculty, staff and students have put in hours of time, shared their wisdom, challenged one another and celebrated successes as they focused on strengthening Schulich Dentistry. It’s been gratifying to be part of the process.
In the next year, we will see more change.
We are continuing our search for a new Vice-Dean and Director, and hope to be in a position to announce the successful candidate in the coming months.
With recommendations received from our strategic plan committees, we will implement new processes and procedures that will support organizational success as we move forward. We are also developing a technology sustainability plan and new faculty development programs.
In the coming year, we will be welcoming new faculty to Schulich Dentistry who will enrich our curriculum and enlighten our students.
At the same time, our work is continuing on creating opportunities for dental and medical students to join together. We’ve had tremendous success with a combined White Coat Ceremony and Interprofessional Education Day, and I am committed to creating a special convocation that will celebrate our medicine and dentistry graduates together.
Amidst all of this change, the day-to-day functions at Schulich Dentistry have continued. I’m very grateful to Dr. Bohay for his leadership as Acting Director. He has been involved in every single initiative in Dentistry – new and continuing. The many successes we have enjoyed this year are because of his commitment to the School. I’m also grateful to our many full- and part-time faculty who have shared so much of their time this year with our strategic planning work, and through meetings and town-halls. Their feedback and ideas were invaluable to our work and ultimately have strengthened our approaches.
I hope you will enjoy reading this year’s issue of The Bridge. It includes just a few of our success stories including the opening of the Dental Simulation Laboratory, the operationalization of the Dentistry Surgical Care Unit and the project committee work on the strategic plan. We’ve also profiled two outstanding students and faculty members Drs. Timucin Ari, Barry Schwartz, and Gordon Payne.
And this year, we’ve expanded our alumni section. Included this year are features on Drs. Mark Botsford, DDS’89, Karen Campbell, DDS’82, Jessica Gold, DDS’16, and Sepehr Rahmany, DDS’03. Each has taken an interesting journey since their graduation from Dentistry. It also features an update from Dr. Christy Nicolucci, DDS’07, sharing news about the Dental Alumni Society.
“Schulich Dentistry is experiencing a renewal. From the strategic plan work being guided by thoughtful and creative leaders and the renovations and improved teaching facilities to the installation of new technology and equipment – change is taking place.” —Dr. Michael J. Strong
I look forward to seeing many of you at the ODA Conference in May, and at Homecoming in October.
We’ll have more news and updates to share with you then. In the mean-time, you can learn more about what’s taking place at Schulich Dentistry by visiting the website: schulich.uwo.ca/dentistry
Dr. Michael J. Strong
MD, FRCP(C)
Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Distinguished University Professor, Western University
