Walter Siqueira believes it couldn’t have come at a better time.
A new investment of $800,000 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) will fund a much-needed push to boost dental research and support graduate students in the field. It’s back-up Siqueira, a professional dentist and professor in Dentistry and Biochemistry, contends is desperately needed.
SIQUEIRA
According to an article in the Journal of Dental Research, roughly 10 per cent of faculty positions in American dental schools are vacant. But this problem really applies to all North American dental schools, Siqueira said, adding the industry faces another hurdle because existing faculty members find it difficult to get funding and do the research necessary to obtain tenure.
To address the issue, the CIHR funding will go toward establishing the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research, and as one of its first initiatives, Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry will host a two-day national dental student workshop, starting June 10. Students and faculty alike will represent all 10 dental schools in Canada, together working to find ways to encourage dental research.
The workshop is meant to offer graduate students a network of resources and mentorship that will hopefully spur them on to future academic work, Siqueira, who will lead the workshop, said.
“It’s a balance of research, teaching and service. But it’s really a money issue. Dental school is expensive. When you finish dental school, you get married, buy a house, have a family. You need to pay back loans to the bank,” he said.
Siqueira noted dental graduates understandably find it difficult to opt for a less lucrative academic career when they can easily make $200,000 if they continue on to dental practice after graduation.
“In this CIHR research environment, and it’s more competitive, you need to have your dental degree, a PhD and post-doc training. The salary for a post-doc is around $35,000-$40,000. We will be discussing this in the workshop. How do we get graduate students interested in staying on as academics? How do we support this?”
By connecting dental graduate students around the country, the workshop will help unearth more support and hopefully, more resources, Siqueira continued.
“The other important aspect of this workshop is to start to have the network with young investigators, a grad student network of research, contacting other dental schools. The goal here is to start to mentor and prepare the next generation of dental researchers, show them how to apply for money, how to continue their post-doc training.”
Workshop topics will cover opportunities for clinician-scientists, work-life balance, help with publishing research, funding support for junior faculty positions and how to create a student research group and Siqueira believes the gathering will present an opportunity to showcase Western’s faculty and research in the field, opening doors to future research collaboration.
“It’s the first time that all the dental schools in Canada are getting together to discuss careers in academic dentistry and we want to encourage all participants to create a social research network,” Siqueira said.
