Beyond the classroom: Dentistry student shows commitment to mentorship and volunteerism
By Rachel Boutet
For DDS4 student Ola El Maki, giving 100 per cent at school doesn’t come at the cost of sacrificing her commitment to volunteerism.
“When something means a lot to you, you make time for it,” she says. “Even though my schedule is busy, I feel an inner sense of responsibility to give back to my community. It’s something I just have to do.”
El Maki came to Canada from Sudan when she was 11 years old. She completed her undergraduate degree at Laurier University and her first year of dental school at the University of Maryland, after which she decided to return home and transferred to the Faculty of Dentistry in her second year.
“I’ve always appreciated mentorship and can understand the implications it has on students, especially at a young age,” she says. “When I came to U of T, I made sure to engage in initiatives that allowed me to show up as a mentor for others.”
El Maki’s mentorship involvement includes the university’s Summer Mentorship Program, which was created to help address concerns about the under-representation of Black and Indigenous people within the health sciences. She has also participated in U of T’s public health outreach programs including teaching dental students in Ethiopia as part of the Addis Ababa Collaboration, and the “Filling The Gap” initiative as part of the dental outreach course, where she was able to provide dental care to low-income patients.
“These initiatives allowed me to give back to the local and global communities,” she says. “It felt very rewarding and meant a lot to me, as both experiences resonated deeply with my future goals of being a compassionate healer in the dental field.”
El Maki shares her dedication of highlighting the achievements of the Black community, particularly in the dental field, and acknowledges the importance of Black representation. Drawing inspiration from her time in the United States, she aspires to create inclusive programs that highlight Black excellence in dentistry.
As a Black dental student, I want to foster a community that dismantles barriers and promotes diversity at all levels of healthcare education
“I’ve attended conferences hosted by the Student National Dental Association that celebrate Black excellence and achievements and feel inspired for us to follow suit in Canada,” says El Maki. “As a Black dental student, I want to foster a community that dismantles barriers and promotes diversity at all levels of healthcare education.”
Her involvement in volunteer efforts include mentoring and servicing the Baltimore community through Maryland’s Student National Dental Association (SNDA) as well as Laurier’s “Beating the Odds” Conference run by the Association of Black Students to address the lack of representation of Black students at post-secondary institutions. She has a goal to replicate similar models at U of T.
“Having spent a year in the US and actively participating in SNDA, I gained a lot of insight on the importance of effective representation,” says El Maki. “In Canada, there is a lot of room for improvement. Black dentists are not an adequate representation of our population. My goal is to help change this and become the mentor I’ve always wished for. This is the foundation I want to build before I finish my journey at the Faculty.”
Top photo: Ola El Maki