Dr. Gregory Jones was not a typical student when he entered McGill. Nor did he have a typical career after he graduated.
That has suited him just fine. Dr. Jones, DDS’95, is not only grateful for his unique experience at McGill Dentistry (now the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences), he’s taken steps to ensure that other students can do the same.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be reasonably successful in my career,” says Dr. Jones, “and I know McGill gave me that opportunity.”
Dr. Jones’ career in dental medicine began in Fort Smith, NWT, where he trained as a dental therapist. He was working with First Nations and Inuit communities on Baffin Island when he met Dr. Kenneth Bentley, McGill’s former Dean of Dental Medicine. “Dr. Bentley had his residents do a rotation on Baffin Island, and I coordinated their visits. One day he said to me, ‘Why don’t you apply to dentistry?’”
That’s how Dr. Jones came to study at McGill – as a mature student of nearly 40 among “a lot of very young and very intelligent people.”
But because his background was not typical, neither was his education. “I’d already been a dental therapist, and [the Faculty] knew I was going back up North. So they afforded me the opportunity to learn additional skills: I spent my summers with the Montreal Children’s Hospital pediatric dental program, and additional time in oral surgery and pathology. I think that speaks to McGill’s intellectual flexibility.”
Dr. Jones continued to carve his own path after graduation. He returned to work for the government of the Northwest Territories, then the government of Nunavut. He completed sedation courses and a Fellowship rotation in anesthesia. He would go on to run a private practice in Halifax, teach at Dalhousie University, serve as Regional Dental Officer for the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, and work for Health Canada. Even his private practice was unique: it was by referral only, focusing exclusively on patients with special needs and complicated cases.
McGill encourages people to think outside the box, and I carried that forward in my practice.”
“Many of those skills, or the awareness or need for those skills, I picked up at McGill. It behooved me to try to pay that forward.”
Dr. Jones has done that many times over. He makes annual gifts to the Faculty, volunteers on its Advisory Board, and he’s arranged a legacy gift: a life insurance policy .
It will fund three initiatives: the Dr. Gregory Jones Master’s Fellowship in Access to Care, the Dr. Gregory Jones PhD Fellowship in Access to Care, and the Dr. Gregory Jones Service to the Community & Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Support Fund. His intentions are to provide care to those who are otherwise marginalized, and to provide students with the opportunity to become comfortable treating those populations.
“Dr. Jones’ generous gifts will support the Faculty’s community initiatives, with a special focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion; access to care for the elderly, and the neurodiverse patient population,” says Elham Emami, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences.
Ultimately, Dr. Jones wants to help other students follow in his footsteps. He chose to provide his support through a legacy gift “because it afforded me the opportunity to get a bigger bang for my buck, so to speak. I used it as an amplifier.” He is now the Faculty’s Legacy Giving Ambassador.
“If you feel obligated to return to McGill some of the opportunities that you were given, [a legacy gift] is a great way to do it,” he says. “People want most to be remembered, and you can do it in a way that will benefit others.”
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