Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 3

CDA President Profile When she graduated in 1981, Dr. Tomkins was awarded the Dean’s Gold Medal for highest overall achievement, academic and clinical, the Alpha Omega Fraternity Prize for highest overall achievement and the J.G. Bourassa Cup, which is presented annually to the most outstanding member of the graduating class. Work Life After Dr. Tomkins graduated from U of T in 1981, she worked as an associate in Windsor, Ontario, with Drs. Donna Brode and Denis Page. “They were both wonderful and Dr. Brode was a terrific role model for me. She was dynamic and very much a businessperson. She had a clear mission and a very strong sense of self.” In 1984, Dr. Tomkins moved back to the Toronto area and worked as an associate in Newcastle, Ontario, with Dr. Rod McArthur, but she felt a strong desire to have her own practice. In 1985, she bought a practice in the Medical Arts Building in mid-town Toronto, close to the U of T campus. Dr. Tomkins had met Dr. Daniel Kmiecik when they were classmates in dental school, but it wasn’t until a few years later that they began dating. After graduation, Dr. Kmiecik did a residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, and then he started a practice from scratch in a downtown Toronto office tower. “In the early 1980s, interests rates were at 19%,” says Dr. Tomkins. “Dan started his practice with high-interest loans and we joke about how after his first year of work, he was in more debt than when he started. He had to move back in with his parents for a while to save money.” The couple married in 1985. In 1986, Dr. John Chalmers, who had been a clinical instructor to both dentists, wanted to sell his practice. “He was very well respected and his practice was lovely,” Dr. Tomkins says. “So we decided to purchase it together, at which point, between the two of us, we had three offices.” Dr. Chalmers worked as an associate with Drs. Tomkins and Kmiecik for 13 years, which delighted them very much. In 1988, they consolidated all three practices into a single location. Dr. Tomkins loved having her own practice and working closely with her team members. When the FDI Annual World Dental Congress was held in Montreal in 2005, Drs. Tomkins and Kmiecik flew their entire staff to the event together. “We were a family practice and often we were caring for four generations,” says Dr. Tomkins. “I felt like we could really make a difference in those families’ health over many years of knowing them.” Working with Dr. Kmiecik as a clinician, a business partner, and a life partner was very rewarding. “My husband was an incredible clinician. He had a broad scope of practice, including ortho, oral surgery, endo and perio surgery and did Dr. Tomkins and Dr. Daniel Kmiecik on their wedding day in 1985 Canada Day celebrations at the dental practice CONTINUEDP. 31 28 | 2022 | Issue 3