McGill University's Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences is well known for its impact in Quebec, where its award-winning Service to the Community Program provides dental care to underserved groups throughout the Greater Montreal Area.
Though lesser known, the Faculty's global impact is no less impressive, with a long history of training oral and maxillofacial surgical residents from the Middle East. Now, the Faculty is expanding its global footprint through a new research and clinical collaboration with Kuwaiti partners.
The McGill-KFAS Catalyst Initiative, made possible through the support of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), will help drive international research collaborations between McGill's dentistry faculty and partner institutions in Kuwait.
The initiative aims to expand research capacity in the Persian Gulf country and provide enhanced education and training for future dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons.
"The partnership with KFAS is about building networks, increasing clinical knowledge, and contributing to a vibrant global research community," says Professor Elham Emami, Dean of McGill's Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences. "By deepening collaboration between McGill and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, we are elevating research capacity, establishing mentorship ecosystems, and enhancing learning outcomes on both sides."
In a statement, the Foundation said that the agreement falls within the framework of its strategic direction to support applied scientific research, build national capacities, and expand international cooperation with leading academic and research institutions worldwide, in line with its mission to strengthen a research and innovation ecosystem that contributes to sustainable development.
"This partnership marks an important step in building enduring scientific bridges with one of the world's foremost universities, creating valuable opportunities for Kuwaiti researchers, students, and professionals to benefit from advanced research, academic expertise, and specialized training in the fields of dentistry and oral health," notes the Foundation.
Seed grants supported through this contribution will foster new research collaborations between McGill's dentistry faculty and partner institutions in Kuwait. Those collaborations will also deepen research expertise at McGill, according to Professor Faleh Tamimi, the Faculty's Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education.
"This will help us create bigger research teams with partners in Kuwait," Tamimi says. "Nowadays research productivity and impact are achieved through networks of collaborations. The bigger those networks are and the more international they are, the more impactful and productive you become. This is a great opportunity to grow in that direction."
As part of the initiative, faculty from Kuwait and McGill will travel to each other's institutions for short visits. For example, McGill faculty will deliver lectures at partner institutions in Kuwait and support local curriculum development efforts. Meanwhile, dental students from Kuwait will visit McGill's dentistry faculty for short-term stays to take part in workshops, research training, mentorship and networking activities.
"This initiative opens many doors to build relationships and projects together, exchanging expertise and know-how," says Tamimi.
Dean Emani adds that access to a global network allows McGill trainees to acquire additional academic as well as cultural knowledge, which is especially valuable for clinicians treating patients in a diverse country like Canada.
Likewise, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences said the collaboration reflects its commitment to "enhancing Kuwait's presence within global research and education networks, while enabling national institutions and talent to access high-quality opportunities for scientific exchange and cooperation."
Through such strategic partnerships, the Foundation aims to continue to advance its priorities of developing human capital and increasing scientific impact, while aligning its research and innovation efforts with national development needs.
Building on a strong foundation of clinical care
McGill's Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) program is a leader in Canada. Two residents are admitted annually to its highly selective six-year residency program. One spot is reserved for a medical resident from the Middle East and a fellowship is offered biennially to a student from the region.
Over the past 24 years, the OMFS program has contributed to developing expertise in the oral and maxillofacial surgical specialty in the Middle East through McGill's Sponsored International Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency and Internship programs.
The new McGill-KFAS Catalyst Initiative builds on that foundation, providing two clinical visitorships annually to the OMFS program for surgical residents currently training in Kuwait. They'll spend a month learning alongside McGill peers, benefitting from exposure to various sub-specialities, from orthognathic (jaw) surgery to head and neck oncology.
"We do medical interventions in our program that they may not be exposed to in their programs back home, such as treatment of oral oncology, and complex facial and oral reconstruction," says Dr. Nicholas Makhoul, the Faculty's Associate Dean of Postgraduate Dental Education and Chief of the Department of Dentistry and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the McGill University Health Centre.
"The idea is to have them go back and carry the McGill banner, providing a high level of service to their patients and teaching their colleagues and future residents what they've learned here," Makhoul says.
"Every time we help another program, it helps us learn how to be a better program as well."
