Dentistry Graduate Students Create Professional Development Community
By Rachel Boutet
Graduate students at the Faculty of Dentistry come from a variety of educational backgrounds, many without clinical specialty training. The Graduate Professional Development Community (GPDC) was recently established to create connections between basic science and specialty trained graduate students.
The GPDC was established as part of the Faculty’s Strategic Plan in the area of improving trainees’ experience, led and supported by vice-dean research and professor Bernhard Ganss. In collaboration with the Graduate and Postgraduate Dental Students' Society (GPDSS), it aims to provide the opportunity for graduate students to exchange knowledge and skills and help bridge the gap between academic training and career preparation.
“The idea for this group came up as we were getting close to graduation and thinking about our next steps,” says Shahrzad Nouri, GPDC president who is in her last year as a PhD candidate in Dental Biomedical Science. “When you start at U of T, you’re very focused on your courses and research – it’s hard to think of the resources you’ll need as you complete your degree and prepare to start your career. One of our goals is to help new graduate students start thinking about these things as soon as they join the Faculty.”
Nouri also notes it is a small group of graduate students in the area of basic sciences.
“We wanted a place where graduate students could share knowledge and collaborate with people from different backgrounds,” says Nouri. “While we started as a group of only basic science students, now we have extended our community to graduate specialty students. It’s allowed for a nice collaboration between those with and without a dentistry background.”
For example, Nouri has a background in engineering and her fellow GPDC executive member, Mehrnoosh Neshatian, has a background in physics. Neshatian is also GPDC vice-president and in her last year of her PhD. Second year PhD student and GPDC workshop organizer, Fereshteh Younesi, has a background in molecular medicine and cellular molecular biology.
“This community has allowed for a safe space to ask any question, no matter how small or seemingly silly,” says Neshatian. “I don’t have a biology background so when I started at the Faculty, something that might have been obvious to other graduate students was new to me. The GPDC provides a friendly space where I can lean on others for support and in turn, provide them with my expertise from my own education.”
Neshatian also notes the importance of the GPDC when it comes to orientation.
“There are a lot of resources available, but as a new student, it can be overwhelming to sort through it while you’re also diving into your research,” she says. “Our goal is to help graduate students navigate this information beyond orientation. GPDC will help support students for the rest of their time at the Faculty.”
Some of the initiatives the GPDC has already executed include workshops and on-demand focus groups. The virtual workshops have helped graduate students build knowledge and skills in essential software such as Photoshop, Prism and Endnotes.
“Our two workshops have been a great success,” says Younesi. “We nearly doubled our attendance for the second workshop and received participation from graduate students across U of T’s faculties.”
The on-demand focus groups allow students to submit requests for sessions, like most recently, the opportunity for a student to practice his Master’s thesis defence. He did so to a group of graduate students virtually, due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“We want to arm graduate students with different skill sets to help them navigate their projects and research,” says Younesi. “An added benefit of the peer-to-peer thesis defence was the audience could help prepare for their own defence as they listened to other potential questions.”
As for the future, the GPDC is planning a networking night for students and alumni who can offer insight into the success of their careers. The group is also looking to set up a peer-to-peer mentorship program that will help senior graduate students learn how to be a mentor while junior graduate students benefit by learning from someone who has been through a similar experience as them.
Nouri notes that the hope is for new members of the GPDC to participate and learn so they can become the new executive.
“We aim to grow this new community into a place all the graduate students can benefit.”
Photo: GPDC Executive Team (Shahrzad Nouri, Mehrnoosh Neshatian and Fereshteh Younesi)