Dentistry was not my original choice of career. After graduating with a diploma from BCIT, Nortel had gone bust and I unhappily worked as a temporary in factories. It was in no uncertain terms described as “dead end.”

Youthful arrogance, a bruised ego, and anger might be the pinnacle of motivation. I took courses at an adult education center as my achievement in high school was limited to not failing a class. As luck would have it, the University of Western Ontario accepted me as a transfer student. I have my older sister to thank for the encouragement.

I did well at Western and after two years, and was accepted to the College of Dentistry at the University of Saskatchewan. Following completion of dental school, I was accepted and finished a 3 year Masters degree residency program in Dental Anaesthesia at the University of Toronto.

Residency allowed for incredible training and experience at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto East General, Sunnybrook, Womens college, and the anesthesia suites at the University of Toronto faculty of Dentistry.

I continue to be involved in academics at U of T through research projects, clinical instructing, and writing papers. Life is not without irony it seems.