Our two-year anniversary of the first index case of SARS-CoV-2 in Canada was January 25, 2022. While the plan was for a full return to campus this term, the University of Manitoba had to pivot to remote delivery to keep students, staff and faculty safe during the latest Omicron wave in the province.
During the last 24 months, the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry had, as per UM policy, moved most of its didactic teaching online while our clinical and pre-clinical laboratories operated at a somewhat reduced capacity. This fall saw some graduate didactic teaching taking place in-person and controlled expansion of some undergraduate and graduate clinical operations.
In the fall, we had the opportunity to safely gather again in groups. We were able to enjoy outdoor activities as guests of the Manitoba Dental Students’ Association on the baseball diamonds during Sports Day, an event that was held safely and to the great enjoyment of everyone. We were also fortunate to celebrate an in-person Opening Assembly with our dental hygiene and dental students while family and friends watched online. These two events, in addition to a student led effort to clean our campus and neighborhood of refuse, including discarded masks and recyclable items, led to a sense of normality for a brief period of time. A sincere thank you to all who organized and participated in those events.
This winter has brought the additional challenge of continuing our in-person operations through a significantly increased community spread of Omicron. While the University redoubled its efforts in keeping everyone safe by continuing in the mostly remote delivery of courses, our efforts focused on how to protect our community from cluster infections.
We redoubled our efforts to encourage third dose vaccination. With a 100 per cent “full” vaccination of our college, we advocated for the necessity of a third dose to students, staff and faculty. We increased our PPE requirements in our clinical spaces, had our air flows tested in our pre-clinical and clinical labs to confirm adequate air exchanges, and developed internal reporting processes and monitoring systems for COVID-19 positive cases. These actions also helped reassure our patients/clients that the safe delivery of care and community safety concerns are paramount in our minds. We have managed so far to continue our operations uninterrupted. None of this would have been possible without the outstanding efforts of students, staff and faculty who have demonstrated levels of resilience I would never have imagined two years ago. My profound gratitude goes out to all my colleagues at the college.
While dealing with all of the above issues, we have managed to complete our strategic plan, prepare for accreditation in spring 2022, and start our curriculum review with the help of experts from the UM Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. This review, in concert with the completion of our strategic plan and the outcomes of our accreditation review, will help us operationalize the changes we wish to accomplish in the upcoming years.
Finally, I would be remiss not to congratulate Kathy Yerex, our faculty member from the School of Dental Hygiene, for graduating in October with her Master’s degree, and Dr. Bob Schroth and his co-investigators for receiving a five-year Canadian Institutes of Health Research project grant in the amount of $1.4 million for the project titled Oral microbiome and caries risk in First Nations and Métis children in Manitoba. In addition I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Dr. John Perry, our associate dean (academic), for receiving the Canadian Dental Association Award of Merit in recognition of his outstanding service and contributions to the dental profession. I look forward to many more occasions to celebrate our student, staff and faculty accomplishments.
Dr. Anastasia Kelekis-Cholakis
Dean, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry