Lumen Autumn 2017 - Flipbook - Page 31
story by Kelly Brown
U
nder the guidance of Professor
Milton Sims at the Adelaide Dental
School, alumna Dr Helen McLean
became the high-calibre orthodontist that
she always hoped to be. Now, with the help
of her colleagues, she is repaying the gift
of a world-class education by supporting
the Milton Sims Visiting Professorship.
Dr Helen McLean set her sights on
becoming an orthodontist at age 10 after
a painful experience at the dentist.
“I have very vivid memories of walking
out of the dentist’s surgery and saying to
my mother: ‘When I grow up I’m going
to be a dentist and I’m going to be very
kind and caring, and all the children will
come to me’,” says Helen.
Helen’s ambition has never wavered.
Following the completion of a Bachelor
of Dental Surgery at the University, she
practiced dentistry for four years before
returning for postgraduate studies in
orthodontics under the guidance of the
eminent Professor Milton Sims.
“Milton had lectured to us as undergrads
and I guess what impressed me was his
unwavering belief that near enough was
never good enough. It was perfection or
do it again, and perfection is in my nature,”
she says.
“Therefore as frustrating as it might
be, I knew if I studied under Milton Sims
I would learn a lot, it would be evidencebased because he was a world-recognised
researcher, and I’d learn that I had to be
at the top of my field if I was going to be
successful.”
Helen says that her life’s wisdom has
come from the examples that Milton set.
“It was an ethos of excellence and hard
work – he expected to see us seven days
a week and if he didn’t see us on Sunday
he would ask us Monday morning – ‘where
were you yesterday?’
“It was an ethos of if you want to get
there then you have got to work.”
Milton also had a strong philosophy
of evidence and critical thinking, and
he sought to instil these qualities in
his postgraduates.
“He would say: ‘Helen, how could
you do that if I took the manual away?
How can you move that tooth because
you’re not getting the wires out of
the cupboard today, you must find
another way?’
“I’m absolutely blessed to have been
taught by someone of that calibre.”
To share the benefits of her education,
Helen has three private orthodontic
practices, two in Adelaide and one in the
Riverland, and treats public health care
patients with severe orthodontic problems
at the Adelaide Dental Clinic.
She also volunteers annually at a medical
and dental clinic in remote Vietnam where
she provides dental care to people of the
Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province living close to
the site of the Battle of Long Tan.
This is in addition to her role as
Senior Clinical Lecturer in Orthodontics
at the University.
“It’s an ethos of wanting to share
knowledge and giving back, because still
to this day I think I am incredibly fortunate
to have studied dentistry at a school like
the Adelaide Dental School.”
Visiting professorship helps inspire
The Milton Sims Visiting Professorship
was established to bring an eminent
overseas professor of orthodontics to
Australia to enhance the learning of
Adelaide Dental School postgraduates
and practitioners in Australia.
Visiting professors teach and guide the
research of postgraduates and present
courses to general practitioners during
their stay. They also take on the role of
external examiner for our postgraduates
in their final exams.
“If our graduates pass and pass well then
they can hold their head high all around
the world because they haven’t just been
trained and examined in Australia by
Australian specialists, they’ve also been
taught and examined at international
levels by world-class and highly regarded
orthodontic professors from overseas,”
says Dr Helen McLean.
The professorship was initiated by
Professor Wayne Sampson, a senior
lecturer in orthodontics at the University,
who worked alongside Professor Sims
in running the postgraduate program
over many years.
He built the case for a professorship with
Helen and three other colleagues – Dr
Craig Dreyer, the current Professor of
Orthodontics at Adelaide Dental School,
Dr Simon Freezer and Dr Colin Twelftree.
All five had been profoundly influenced by
Professor Sims during their careers.
The inaugural professorship was in 2015
when the founding donors and the Dental
Research and Education Fund (DREF)
brought Professor Fraser McDonald, from
Kings College, London, to the University.
“The feedback from Professor McDonald
and our postgraduates was that they learnt
so much, it was fantastic,” says Helen.
Last year the University hosted Dr Jay
Bowman, from the University of Michigan,
and will host Theodore Eliades from
the University of Zurich in 2018 with
the professorship now approved as a
biennial initiative.
If you would like to find out more about
the Milton Sims Visiting Professorship or
get involved in supporting its perpetuity,
contact engage@adelaide.edu.au
Professor Milton R. Sims, AO (1927-2006)
Professor Milton Sims was an orthodontic pioneer
who devoted his life to teaching, research and clinical
service for the benefit of the University and the
general community. He was Reader in Orthodontics
at the University of Adelaide from 1963 – 1992 and
introduced a postgraduate program at the University
that led to the specialisation in orthodontics. Until
his retirement in 1993, 45 students graduated from
his program and went on to fulfil their professional
obligations nationally and internationally.
As a disciple of the legendary PR Begg (1898-1983),
Professor Sims championed the Begg treatment
philosophy, particularly when he was in the United
States in the early 1960s. He provided many lectures
and courses of instruction that ensured the University
of Adelaide was on the world stage.
The University of Adelaide | Alumni Magazine 29
