The value of time

When Susanna Chow 9T2 left dental school nearly thirty years ago, she was thrilled to be done with the long hours of studying and clinics, and never wanted to set foot on campus. “But not too long after that, I missed school. I missed the people that taught me.” 

She reached out to one of her mentors and soon found herself putting in a few days a week as a clinical instructor, balancing that commitment with days at her own busy practice. While time at the Faculty meant a serious pay cut to her usual expected day rate, plus time away from her practice, it was worth it to her. 

“I just enjoy teaching. If you work too much, you can get burned out. And It’s very rewarding to work with students, to see them improving, how much confidence they gain and how much more independent they are,” she says. “There’s tremendous self reward.”

Chow says she herself learned while teaching too. And since she’s taken her undergraduate degree, her DDS, and a recent master’s in education at UofT (the education degree was from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, which is part of the university), working on campus is about being part of a life-long community for her. “I’m coming back to my big family,” says Chow, who just began as an assistant professor in the Faculty in the teaching stream.

The Faculty’s busy clinics rely heavily on instructors who give their time — for pay much lower than they’d expect to receive working in a typical dentistry job — to help guide both graduate and undergraduate students as they treat roughly 15,000 patients a year. 

“You want to see students succeed,” says Carolyn Kay 6T6 Dip DH, who used to serve as an instructor years ago, when the Faculty still taught hygiene. 

She agreed to come back seven years ago when she was asked to volunteer her time on the alumni board. “I like having a connection to the Faculty. I feel indebted to the Faculty. It gave me my profession,” she says. Kay also met her husband, Melvyn Kay 6T5, 6T9 Dip Paedo, while at UofT — he’s also served as a clinical instructor at the Faculty.

Through the board — which she says isn’t a huge time commitment — she’s been a part of and attended a number of events, including galas and the first Great Alumni Event, which she recalls as being a huge success and a lot of fun.

Importantly, she keeps her eye on projects that relate to the Access to Care Fund, which allows some patients to get funding for treatments at the Faculty’s clinics. “I have a soft spot for it,” she says. 

Kay says giving back via time or money, if people are able, is important to support dental education and the Faculty. “It’s an excellent place and we should support it by whatever means we can.”