Learning a matter for life say graduates
Globetrotting graduate Nazeeh Abunasra has been halfway around the world in pursuit of a career in dentistry.
He graduates this spring from the Faculty of Dentistry's International Dental Completion program.
Abunasra was raised in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. When his brother moved to Scotland to go to medical school, Abunasra joined him and enrolled in the dental program at the University of Glasgow.
"When I was six, I lost a permanent tooth playing hide-and-seek," he says. "I spent a lot of time in the dentist's chair. Besides getting a new tooth, I got an interest in dentistry."
After graduation in 1996, he decided to continue his studies in North America.
"North American dentistry has the highest standard of practice worldwide," says Abunasra. "To stay up-to-date and to undertake any specialty, I realized this had to be my next stop."
To practice in Canada, however, he needed to re-qualify by taking two years of undergraduate dentistry at a Canadian school.
He took his first look at Vancouver when he arrived for his interview at UBC.
"When I was introduced in class so many people came up to shake my hand," he says. "Canada is the most friendly place I've lived -- Canadians are very civilized."
He says he mixed in easily with his fellow classmates despite his graduate status and found there was lots of new material to learn.
"Things change so fast in dentistry -- almost half of the work and practice was new information," he says.
An avid soccer player, Abunasra is a member of the Faculty's intramural team. Living in Vancouver has also allowed him to take up skiing.
Although he misses Dubai's sunny climate, Abunasra says he hasn't experienced significant culture shock on his travels because the United Arab Emirates has a multinational mix of residents.
The Big Apple is the next stop on Abunasra's educational trek. He'll complete a one-year internship in oral surgery in New York City and then hopes to qualify as an oral surgeon. It's a goal that means four more years of schooling.
Abunasra is not sure where he will eventually set up practice but expects to stay in North America because of its superior continuing dental education opportunities.
"The inventions, discoveries and techniques that change dental practice -- they all happen here," he says.