Welcome Back
29 October 2021
For the past three years, Dr. Camila Pacheco-Pereira was at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio. She had taken an educational leave to continue her training and complete a duo degree in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology. But now she’s back and in the middle of the fall term in the clinic.
While in San Antonio, Dr. Pereira was a part of a residency program, she published many articles, completed her PhD and was the recipient of the Maria Yeung Award – an exclusive scholarship for females in academia.
COVID restrictions kept her away from her family more than she would have liked, but the academic experience taught her that dreams do come true.
What was your routine during your fellowship?
I had the opportunity to be part of the routine of an academic dental clinic fully integrated with an important hospital. The residency explored all scopes of the Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology (OMR) practice, focusing on how OMR can be integrated with all departments and specialties. For example, I was exposed to the management side of dentistry and imaging services, which I have always loved. We also had the clinical activities, exploring teaching and completing several radiology reports from in-house scans and a teleradiology service serving the entire U.S.
What was a major accomplishment from your program in San Antonio?
It was amazing to collaborate in multi-specialty research projects and collaborate with different teams. I had the opportunity to complete a Ph.D. that I started before the residency at the University of Brasilia. My major accomplishment was receiving the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology awards last year (The W. Rollins and H. Raper Awards) – I’m proud of having received such prestigious awards.
What did you miss the most while you were away?
My family, by far. I moved alone, with all traveling plans in place but COVID restrictions limited our travels to Canada and Brazil. It was very challenging to handle the distance and to remain in mandatory quarantine when I came to Edmonton for short visits.
What was your biggest takeaway from the entire experience?
The takeaway is that none of your dreams are unachievable, if you really want them to come true. I thought I was an exception when I left for Texas, due to my experience, age, familial situation but there were many fellows like me.
During my time as a resident, I experienced kindness, empathy, and generous assistance from everyone. I could also see how my “multitasking husband” J.R. and amazing kids (there are adults) Vitor and Lara can take care of each other. Seeing that gave me peace of mind that I never felt before.
What are you the most excited about this school year?
I was very excited to came back to U of A and to implement an in-house reporting center at our school as soon as I arrived. I’m sure the shorter reports turnaround and a personalized clinically-oriented reporting style are essential for the student’s learning process. There is more to come!
By having our own reporting services, we will increase patient care and grant the students a broad learning opportunity. My goal is to build up imaging research projects that are easily translated to clinical practice – meaningful projects if I can say. And finally, promoting multicentric collaboration between colleagues and students from Brazil, US, and Canada, is the way to go!