Volume 9 • 2022 • Issue 3

Connection to the Canadian Military The men in Dr. Tomkins family all served in the military. Some of her relatives served in France and Belgium during World War I. Her great uncle Dr. Pat Beattie not only served at Vimy Ridge in World War I, he also joined the Canadian Dental Corps during World War II. Her father joined the military at age 17 to serve in the Second World War. “During World War II, the population of Canada was 10 million and one million of them were in uniform,” Dr. Tomkins says. “Military service has had a significant impact on the lives of so many Canadians.” One year, for a special birthday, her husband organized a trip to Canadian World War I and II battle sites, including Vimy Ridge and Juno Beach, with a military historian from the Royal Canadian Military Institute. “We located the graves of people in my family,” she says. “It was really moving and quite emotional.” In 2018, Dr. Tomkins became an associate member of the Senate of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. “I’ve continued to learn about the Canadian Armed Forces and the significant contributions of Canadians in international conflicts and as peacekeepers,” she says. Teaching and Organized Dentistry In 1990, Dr. Richard Ellen, head of periodontics at U of T, asked Dr. Tomkins if she’d be interested in teaching. “I had ten years of work experience under my belt so I felt I had something to offer students,” she says. Soon afterward, Dr. Renee Kilmartin also invited her to serve in a clinical teaching position in oral diagnosis. “Teaching allowed me to continue my education, keep my skills up-to-date and to give back to the university,” Dr. Tomkins says. “I love interacting with young people and understanding the changing experience of dental students. There is also a tremendous camaraderie amongst the clinical teaching staff.” Indeed, it was a colleague in oral diagnosis, Dr. Li Browne, who encouraged Dr. Tomkins to return more seriously to organized dentistry. Dr. Browne was on the executive of the Toronto Central Dental Society, one of the component During World War II, the population of Canada was 10 million and one million of them were in uniform. Military service has had a significant impact on the lives of somany Canadians. AulavikNational Park, Banks Island, NWT. Paddling theThomsenRiver, one of themost northerly navigable waterways Juno Beach for the 75 th Anniversary of D-Day landings