3 minute read
with student scholarships
Advertisement
Patty was brilliant and bright, and always quick witted. She tried to lighten a mood or help a student feel comfortable with a grin, a wink and a joke. She cared deeply about her students, always advocated for fairness for them and championed for their wellbeing and learning.
Patty was in the details. She was meticulous, thoughtful and precise. Not just at work, but she had an eye for small details in her floral arrangements, birds and tiny trimmings around her home and garden that she loved to share with friends.
She was meticulous and intentional in her work as a clinician and teacher too. She paid close attention to patients and was fastidious in their care. She wanted students to see how beneficial painstaking thoroughness was so she loved sitting down with students and patients and modelling meticulousness. She was so organized and always used to say there was a reason for everything.
– Rachelle Pratt, DH instructor
Patty Gainer (DH ‘79) impacted everyone she met. Her sudden passing from ovarian cancer in 2020, left her friends, colleagues and students coming to terms with the void left behind by an educator and dental hygienist who was both an inspiration and master teacher to them.
In honour of her 27 years at the School of Dentistry, Gainer’s husband Tim Carmichael has created the Patty Gainer Memorial Scholarship in Clinical Dental Hygiene that will be awarded to two students each in years 3 and 4 of their dental hygiene education.
“It’s my way of giving a gift to the people who remember Patty,” says Carmichael. “As an educator she always went above and beyond her needs. I want to honour her expertise.”
Carmichael says his wife would have appreciated having this award created, and that she would probably also tell him not to talk about it.
“But it gives me comfort to talk about it. She was very modest and never flaunted her level of excellence in the field,” says Carmichael, recalling his wife would spend evening and weekends preparing for her classes and specialty courses. “People treasure her in their memories.”
This is especially true. In 2020, dental hygiene student Alanna Blanchette helped organize Ovarian Cancer Canada’s Walk of Hope for Gainer. Team 4 Fighters – as the team was named – raised $21,610 in support of ovarian cancer research.
“She was very much appreciated by her students,” says Carmichael, who took part in this year’s Walk of Hope in memory of his wife as well. “She was committed to helping students develop their skillset. Patty would always remind them to do their best and showed them that it’s just as important to make the patient comfortable as it is to do your work.”
Patty was a truly gifted educator and dental hygienist who cared deeply for students and their learning experience says Sharon Compton, professor and associate chair of the dental hygiene program at the school.
“She held the bar high and students certainly benefitted under her guidance and support. I always appreciated Patty’s visits where we would discuss the upcoming course teaching which always included a few laughs and sharing of personal and professional stories. She is deeply missed,” says Compton. “Going forward with awards, it will be very special to annually dedicate time to join with others as we remember Patty while recognizing student excellence in clinical dental hygiene. Her memory and legacy live on.”
