THE PAST INSPIRES THE PRESENT

A clinical instructor’s gift honours his own experiences

Not everyone has precise memories of how it felt to be a dental student, but Robert De Miglio 9T9 does. “I was intimidated and full of self-doubt.”

De Miglio also recalls money being tight during those years; he relied on student loans and grants to cover tuition.

Three years ago, De Miglio — who runs his own practice in Kitchener — began teaching restorative dentistry at the Faculty. He came across students who reminded him of him- self all those years ago, and that informed his teaching style.

“I try to be calm and non-intimidating, and try to instill confidence in the students,” he says. “I always fall back on remembering how I felt, and I try to be empathetic.”

De Miglio’s wife, Teresa Galle, also works in education — she’s a lawyer and also teaches in the paralegal program at Centennial College. The two decided to create an entrance bursary for a dentistry student with financial need.

“Dentistry has been a really good thing in our lives,” says Galle. “So the Faculty of Dentistry was a place we wanted to give back to. Especially for undergraduate students.”

“We wanted to make sure even just one student found it easier,” adds De Miglio.

Dentistry has given their family — which includes two university-aged kids — so much, the couple says. They enjoy a supportive community of colleagues; plus, De Miglio gets to be involved in some cool projects.

He’s part of a rotation of dentists who care for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League. The young men on the team, as you might guess, sometimes experience dental trauma. But it’s also a fun and supportive community De Miglio enjoys being part of — his patients often attend games, too.

Adding in one day a week at the Faculty’s clinics, mean- while, satisfied a long-time dream. “I always had it in the back of my mind to go back to the university to teach.”

For him, working as an instructor in dentistry and creating this new bursary allows him to support, in a meaningful way, the school that helped launch his career. “It just makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I’m doing something good for a special place in my heart.”

Photo: Robert De Miglio and Teresa Galle (Jeff Comber)