Alumni from the Dental Hygiene Class of 2000 embrace at the Rady Faculty Dean's Homecoming Breakfast.
Rady alumni reconnect with classmates, rediscover UM at Homecoming festivities
The Rady Faculty of Health Sciences hosted its largest-ever Dean’s Homecoming Breakfast on Sept. 20, with more than 280 UM alumni from the health professions reuniting at the Brodie Centre atrium.
Those in attendance were celebrating milestone reunions (10, 25, 50 years, etc.), with some having graduated as long ago as 1965. Dr. Peter Nickerson, dean of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, said he was inspired to see such a large group of alumni gathered together.
“Congratulations, University of Manitoba alumni, on your milestone reunions,” Nickerson said. “This Homecoming breakfast is always a highlight and the energy in this room is really electric.”
Nickerson updated the guests on several developments underway at the Rady Faculty, including the establishment of the new College of Community and Global Health and construction of the newest building on the Bannatyne campus. The building will open in 2027 and will be home to medical education spaces, the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry’s new dental clinics, Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing and a child-care centre.
Other speakers included Dr. Allan Winchar from the Dentistry Class of 1975, Susan Fogg from the College of Nursing Class of 1975, and current Max Rady College of Medicine student Guneet Uppal.
Facility tours
Following the breakfast, medicine, dentistry and rehabilitation sciences alumni took tours of their respective college facilities.
Medicine alumni from the classes of 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 2000 and 2015 toured the Max Rady College of Medicine skills labs.
Medicine Class of 1975 alum Dr. Frank Martin said he enjoyed the breakfast, tour and spending time with old friends throughout the weekend.
“I thoroughly enjoyed talking with classmates, and catching up with their lives was very special,” he said.
Members of the dentistry classes of 1975 and 2015, and the dental hygiene classes of 1975, 1985 and 2000 toured the Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry building. The tours were led by college dean Dr. Anastasia Kelekis-Cholakis and Mary Bertone, director of the School of Dental Hygiene.
Dr. David Nerman from the Dentistry Class of 1975 said it was great to be back on campus 50 years after graduation and to see classmates he hasn’t seen in decades.
“I moved to Vancouver three years after I graduated,” he said. “I attended the 40-year reunion, when only nine people showed up, but that was really nice, too. There’s about 14 or 15 of us here [out of 28 grads]. We were a very close-knit class, and it’s like we’ve never left.”
Occupational therapy department head Dr. Leanne Leclair led tours of the updated facilities at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences for alumni from the 1975, 1985 and 2000 physical and occupational therapy classes.
Standing in one of the new physical therapy classrooms, alum Lori Anne Lobb said she enjoyed seeing the modern facilities and reconnecting with her classmates.
“I haven’t seen some of these people in 50 years. We’re having a great time catching up,” said Lobb, who currently works part-time as a physiotherapist in Gimli. “I’m still having fun.”
Other Homecoming events
The College of Pharmacy held a celebration the previous evening at the Apotex Centre on the Bannatyne campus, where alumni learned about the facility and today’s student experience.
“In 1965, it wasn’t the pharmacist’s role to share any prescription information with the patient. People swallowed, inserted, inhaled or applied meds without ever knowing [the meds’] names,” said Muriel Barber from the BScPharm Class of 1965.
“Any questions or concerns were directed back to the prescribing physician, and as pharmacists, we didn’t talk to patients much at all. There was very little collaboration between our two professions back then — what a stark contrast to current practice.”
Dr. Hope Anderson, dean of the college, addressed the alumni, along with Kyra dela Cruz, student council president.
“It’s really special that you would travel and make the time and the effort to come back and reconnect with each other,” Anderson said. “And it suggests to me … your time as pharmacy students was meaningful in a very positive way.”
The College of Nursing welcomed alumni from the classes of 1975 and 1985 to a reception and tour of the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing on the Fort Garry campus, also on Sept. 19.
College dean Dr. Kellie Thiessen updated the group on current activities at the college and thanked them for their service as nurses. Other speakers included Nursing Students’ Association senior stick Mariam Yusuf and Diane Cepanec from the Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
John Russell, from the Nursing Class of 1985, said he was very impressed with the tour, which included the college’s state-of-the-art simulation and virtual reality labs.
“I know what virtual reality games are like, but to actually be able to do that interactively with a virtual patient is pretty neat,” he said.
Watch a social media reel from the events.
