Community Advocate and Inspiration Dr. Sheri McKinstry’s Extraordinary Career Serving the Oral Health Needs of Indigenous Communities Dr. Sheri McKinstry—a dentist, an academic, an Anishinaabekwe from Treaty 1 territory, and a proud member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba— was not a typical student. Rather, she turned out to be an exceptional one. Though she was a strong student when she was a teenager, Dr. McKinstry dropped out of school to help care for her younger siblings. It was only after she met her husband and was expecting her first child that she began taking courses to complete her high school diploma. “I was very motivated because my husband and I wanted to provide opportunities for our children, opportunities that I didn’t have growing up,” Dr. McKinstry says. When it was time to contemplate her career possibilities, Dr. McKinstry and her husband sat down and talked about what she most wanted to do. “I had to decide, where am I going and what am I going to do?” she says. Dr. Sheri McKinstry 23 Issue 1 | 2023 | Issues and People
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