Duane Hicks
Planning to
return here
to practice
Having taken her first step into the dental world as a high school co-op student with Dr. Mike Botsford and Dr. Steve Chown, Joanna McQuarrie is now on the road to becoming a dentist—with plans of returning to Fort Frances to practice in a couple more years.
McQuarrie, 26, the daughter of Gord and Laurie McQuarrie, is taking dentistry at University of Manitoba and expects to graduate in 2013.
She credits her co-op experience as jump-starting her career, first as a dental hygienist and now a future dentist.
“Since about Grade 7 I’ve wanted to be a dentist,” noted McQuarrie, who worked with Drs. Chown and Botsford over the Christmas holidays.
“I always had an interest in sciences and helping people. Dentistry just seemed like a good fit,” she reasoned.
“After that, I did a co-op in Grade 12 to get some experience and to see if it was really what I wanted to do.”
Her co-op work ranged from receptionist duties to sterilization.
“When I first started my co-op in Grade 12, it was a very positive experience,” McQuarrie enthused. “They made me feel welcome and exposed me to a lot of new things.
“When you go into a co-op, you don’t really know what to expect or what you’re going to see.
“I got to see some procedures,” she noted. “At the office here, we’re state-of-the-art, staying current with procedures and new technology.”
McQuarrie then went away to the University of Manitoba, did her pre-requisite courses to get into the dental hygiene program, and then began that two-year program.
Because of her co-op here, McQuarrie already was familiar with some of the terminology, and had worked with patients and as part of a team.
“Teamwork is really big,” she stressed. “In an office, not one person is any more important than another. No matter what you do, you contribute evenly to the team.
“Lots of time, even in dental school, you aren’t exposed to that. You come out of undergrad and aren’t aware of that.
“The team-building atmosphere in here is very good,” she continued. “Everybody works very well with each other, and contributes positively.”
McQuarrie got her dental hygiene diploma in 2006.
“I always wanted to be a dentist, but I thought I’d do dental hygiene first to get more experience in the field,” she explained.
“If I didn’t get into dentistry, I’d still have another option. I could still be in the field and work with people.”
She then went back to university and got the requisite science credits while working part-time as a dental hygienist.
In 2009, McQuarrie was accepted into dentistry at the U of M, with plans to graduate in 2013. She continues to work as a dental hygienist one day a week in Winnipeg, and will continue to work with Dr. Botsford and Dr. Chown here on summer and Christmas breaks.
Now that she’s in the dentistry program, McQuarrie said her dental hygiene experience has been very beneficial as she’s dealt with patients, and is even more familiar with the terminology and background.
“Like building blocks, one thing just makes the next step that much easier,” she noted. “The co-op program is what really exposed me to everything.
“When you have good staff, it encourages you to go further and come back.”
McQuarrie said she intends to return to Fort Frances after she graduates and work with Drs. Botsford and Chown at their practice.
“That’s my ultimate goal,” she remarked. “I want to work rurally. Lots of time when you graduate in a city, people want to stay in that city.
“The rural areas are often under-served.
“I’d like to come back and work with people in Fort Frances,” she added. “I grew up here and really love it here.”
McQuarrie expects dentistry to be a fulfilling career with opportunities for learning and growth. But most of all, she looks forward to helping people, whether by alleviating their pain or restoring their smiles.
Dr. Chown said he hopes to see McQuarrie become a dentist and return here to the practice with them.
“Joanna did her co-op here, furthered her career, got a dental hygiene [diploma],” he noted. “We were very pleased with her working with us as a dental hygienist.
“In some ways it was bittersweet when she got into dentistry.
“Of course, we were happy for her,” Dr. Chown stressed. “We lost a really good hygienist, but are excited about the prospects of her entering that field.
“I think immediately we envisioned her at our practice when she is completed,” he added.
Dr. Chown noted the practice is appreciative of the fact she’s come back to work for them on her Christmas break and will do so on her summer breaks from school, adding the continued experience will help make McQuarrie’s transition out of school easier because she’s had hands-on experience with patients in a private practice setting.
The path McQuarrie has taken is a solid foundation to a career in dentistry, he said.
Dr. Chown added their practice has had many co-op students, and it was clear years ago that McQuarrie had a keen interest in dentistry. By the end of her co-op, she knew it was a field she wanted to get into.
When McQuarrie moved on to become a hygienist, Dr. Chown felt she gained valuable first-hand experience, which also let her see how big a commitment it is to take another step and become a dentist.
McQuarrie noted another advantage of having worked with Drs. Botsford and Chown is she can ask them for advice.
“They’re very good role models or mentors for me,” she explained. “I can feel very comfortable approaching them with any kind of question.
“I find that’s a very positive thing, for sure.”
Dr. Chown said he and Dr. Botsford consider McQuarrie as part of their dental team.
“It’s been fun following her through this here,” he remarked. “We feel, in a small way, we’re a part of it with her.”
Speaking more generally about the FFHS co-op program, McQuarrie highly recommended it to students.
“Lots of the time, the problem is figuring out what you want to do when you’re in university or college,” she noted.
“If you have an idea, [doing a co-op] exposes you to the experience of it more, gets you more involved ,and you see if it’s what you want to do.
“It gives you experience and experience is a huge part of learning,” McQuarrie stressed.
“You can learn a lot from your books and notes, but to actually experience it in real life can be quite different and very beneficial.”
