Convocation 2019: The Brass
Dentistry graduates its largest cohort of military dentists since the World Wars
When she was ten years old, Ming Hao (Mary) Li moved to Edmonton, Alberta, from one of China’s northernmost — and poorest — provinces. For a while, Li and her parents lived in a basement apartment in the home of her mother’s former English teacher, who helped the small family with their transition as immigrants.
They didn’t know English well. They didn’t know Canada at all. But, having heard from a family friend that it would be a good experience, Li’s mother dragged the young girl to Air Cadets.
“I hated it at first,” says Li. “I wanted to quit. But I guess I just never did.”
Cadets gave the young newcomer a sense of belonging. And it was that formative experience, and the mentors she found there, that led Li to roll her other passion — dentistry — into a full military career.
The two professions blend well together, with the Canadian military employing approximately 140 dentists (and many more physicians) at its 26 bases across the country. This spring, Li is one of 120 DDS students to graduate with the class of 1T9. But she and six of her classmates will add a military rank to their DDS credentials: Captain in the Canada Armed Forces, military dentists who will provide care for their military colleagues.
It’s the largest Faculty of Dentistry cohort to graduate in service to the military since the World Wars. (Currently, there are 18 enlisted service people at the Faculty of Dentistry, including two Majors). And while rising world tensions may have contributed to the large cohort, they don’t tell the whole story. Canada’s Armed Forces offer dental students a major advantage.
“There’s built-in mentorship in the army,” so important to fledgling dentists, says Kurniawan.
Often joining the military during the first or second year of their dental degree, enlisted students concentrate on their studies throughout the school year. During the summer break, though, students are assigned to bases across Canada, where they are mentored by licensed dentists, earning valuable on-the-job training.
Like her fellow second lieutenants (the students’ rank prior to graduation) Taya McGillivary has excelled under the army structure. For three years she played for the Canadian National Women’s Military soccer program, making it to the semi-finals for Ontario last year.
But the Port Williams, Nova Scotia native chose military dentistry for its unique learning opportunities. With the financing of her degree taken care of, she could focus on her studies. And she loved the on-the-job training she received at the military clinics.
“Being able to spend summers doing dentistry was really appealing to me,” says McGillivary.
She worked at the Dennison Armouries in Toronto and CFB Edmonton during her summer breaks. There, “with an oral surgeon six inches away from me,” she extracted over 100 impacted wisdom teeth and performed gingival grafts with a periodontist.
Thanks to this abundance of clinical experiences, McGillivary got better, and faster. She finished all of her clinical credits in early November, well ahead of convocation. And thanks to a “lightbulb moment” working for a mentor in the CFB Edmonton clinic, she’s decided to pursue a specialization in oral surgery.
It’s a sentiment that echoes true for Li. While the military might not pay as much as private practice, it offers budding dentists the chance to practice without the usual worries of finances, competition, or large student loans. “I have the opportunity to practice ‘ideal dentistry’ when starting out. I just want to be good at what I do. I just want to do dentistry,” says Li.
For Marshell Kurniawan, who enlisted during his second year of dental school, the army also offers a way to give back to the country that embraced him as a child. He and his family emigrated from Indonesia to Brampton when he was seven years old. Like Li, Kurniawan and his family learned the language once they arrived. He learned the importance of communication, so vital to patient care, and how to adapt to different environments — a skill necessary in military life.
Once he gets to his post-graduation posting in Petawawa, Kurniawan will work alongside three to four senior dentists as well as classmate Hwabin Lee. He likes the group identity, the feeling that everyone in his platoon is accountable to one other.
“There’s built-in mentorship in the army,” so important to fledgling dentists, says Kurniawan. If you need help with a third molar extraction, for instance, “there’s usually an oral surgeon on base. You either shadow them or assist them.”
Li agrees. “Especially in your first year after graduation, you won’t be comfortable doing certain procedures without supervision. But because the supervision is there, it opens up more doors to collaborate with the specialists and GPs on base.”
Typically, a military dentist will give Canada four years of service post-graduation. Some, like McGillivary, will leave early to follow specializations. But some, like Kurniawan, will build entire military careers.
“I really want to stay in the army,” says Kurniawan. “Hopefully I’ll be there for the long run, though I might like to work in a private clinic on weekends.”
Regardless of where the future takes them, for now the men and women in service are in good hands.
The Faculty of Dentistry’s Class of 2019 hosts its annual Licensing ceremony, where students are awarded their practice licenses by the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, during the morning of June 7, followed by Convocation in the afternoon.
Image: Dentistry's full military cohort, with dean Daniel Haas (centre bottom row), beside vice dean Education and (reservist) Major, Jim Lai, courtesy Jeff Comber