Student reunion
celebration A golden
Paul McNeill, BDS Glasgow ı963, describes the events that made up the recent 50th anniversary alumni reunion held in Glasgow
O
ur reunion came about as a result of the research and considerable detective work of super sleuths Norman Roback and Richard Day,
who planned a three-day event held in June with meticulous attention to detail. They found us – in whichever continent
we were hiding – and dispatched regular email briefings with detailed plots and timings with military-like precision… and even booked us into a local hotel via the university’s conference and visitor services. Our undergraduate year group included students from all parts of Scotland, as well as England and Norway. Special ties existed then between the universities of Scotland and Norway and these links are as strong now as they were in our student days – as evidenced by the return of former colleagues from England, Norway, Canada, America and home to be part of the reunion.
Day one – evening Thus, fully briefed, 20 of us including part- ners assembled for our first meeting on the evening of ı0 June for an informal cocktail night in the Grosvenor Hilton Hotel which, cunningly, afforded us the opportunity to seek each other out with the aid of name tags as most of us had not clapped eyes on each other since graduation day June ı963.
Day two – morning Fifteen former and two active dentists were graciously welcomed by Professor Jeremy Bagg, professor of oral microbi- ology and head of Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, in the recently renovated laboratory in the dental hospital. After his introduction, Prof Bagg
left us in the very capable hands of Dr Carlos Miguel, senior university teacher in oral biology. Dr Miguel told us about
the advances made in the teaching of histology, incorporating the students’ use of individual iPads which also permitted a dialogue between student and teacher, with an inbuilt facility to study histology even outwith the lab, as well as the added ability for the teaching staff to assess students’ progress. We were then invited to examine, on
individual microscopes, a slide of a foetal head which could be simultaneously shown on the teaching monitor (of course we immediately recognised it!). We were conscious of very competent background staff who could not resist photographing this motley crew of celebrity former dentists as we sat in wonder as to what was coming next. We did not have long to wait as Dr
Miguel then introduced us to the field of 3D imaging, which is a revolutionary ongoing research project in the dental
hospital and includes, among others, Dr Aileen Bell from the Digital Design Studio of the neighbouring Glasgow School of Art and the anatomy deptart- ment of Glasgow University. Wearing our 3D glasses, we were then
treated to an Oscar-worthy performance of the human skull exploding before our very eyes into its 22 component bones and the free-floating graceful movements of the
Scottish Dental magazine 35 Continued »
Dinner at Glasgow Art Club
Below right: Dr Carlos Miguel talks former students through teaching advances
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