This year's Howard S. Katz Award for Excellence in Teaching goes to Dr. Firoozeh Samim.
Dr. Samim is an assistant professor involved in teaching oral medicine, oral and maxillofacial pathology, pharmacology, oral diagnosis, and oral radiology in both undergraduate and post graduate dental education. She has developed the case-based learning module (CBL) and student’s tutoring approach, for the first year and second-year DMD students. The CBL cases are designed to shift the focus of student learning from foundational science to clinical knowledge and skill development, with opportunities to demonstrate communication skills and model professional behaviour.
While Dr. Samim has only recently joined the Faculty of Dentistry, starting her appointment as Assistant Professor at McGill University in 2018, she has made an impact in the Dentistry community among colleagues, students, and peers. This award, which recognises amongst other things involvement with course development or improvement, ability to act as a role model for personal and professional development of students, and ability to engage and motivate students, is a testament to that impact.
In addition to receiving the award during the Dentistry luncheon, Dr. Samim was recognized during the Health Sciences Convocation ceremony.
(Photo: Owen Egan / Joni Dufour, original)