Dear members of the McGill Faculty of Dentistry,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you back to our Faculty for the new academic year.
I hope that you have enjoyed the summer, and have had beautiful moments with the simple joys of life. Although our return to normal life is not yet accomplished, we all have the courage of facing the 4th wave of “pandemic normal” with a sense of hopefulness and ambition, and with our vaccinated arms. I wish to extend my heartful thanks to all of you for helping the leadership team at McGill and at our Faculty in the transition to a new normal. Despite the high rate of vaccination in Quebec, COVID is still a reality and present concern that we consider in all our decision-making processes.
Although the Faculty will increase its in-person activities in Fall 2021, there will be restrictive protocols and safeguards in our Faculty and McGill campuses. Some courses or course components will be delivered online and we will have a blended learning environment.
The Ordre des dentistes du Québec has recently announced its support of a vaccination mandate for health care workers, including dental professionals. I support their views and McGill leadership believes that vaccination is the most effective measure to ensure a safe environment. It is therefore important that all members of our Faculty consider being vaccinated unless they have a medical condition that prevents them from taking this important social responsibility.
Continuing the fight against COVID-19, the University is hosting a campus vaccination clinic on Friday, September 3. If you have not yet received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, please get it now.
Presently, our Faculty is waiting for further guidelines from the government and from the Ordre des dentistes du Québec regarding vaccination passport, and we will keep you abreast of developments.
I encourage you to frequently consult the McGill coronavirus update webpage, since the changes can be daily: https://www.mcgill.ca/coronavirus/. More information and resources about the Faculty of Dentistry, specifically, can be found here.
With that said, I wish you once again a safe return to the Faculty and a great academic year full of health, hope, and happiness!
Elham Emami
Dean, Faculty of Dentistry