Dr. Vinay Bhide ’93

Today, Dr. Vinay Bhide is a board certified periodontist, educator, and international lecturer.  Back in 1980, he was an excited six-year old, whose father drove him to Bayview Glen for his first day in Grade 1. “I remember that day clearly,” he says. “My dad dropped me off and I remember looking back at him and seeing a tear in his eye.  I was so happy to be there and looking forward to the adventure. It was the beginning of my time at Bayview Glen!”

Vinay stayed at Bayview Glen until he graduated from Grade 13 in 1993. “The small class size was something I always appreciated,” he remembers. “Having only 10-15 students in my class made for a tight-knit group and it felt like we all grew up together.  For the first six years, I attended the school’s original location in the Valley, and that was an exceptional setting for learning. It felt safe, protected – a million miles from the hustle and bustle of traffic and city crowds.”
 

He had many great teachers over the years. One who stands out particularly is Ms. Cathy Dolan, his Grade 5 and 6 teacher. “She was very nurturing,” says Vinay, “and we respected her as our teacher. She treated us with equal respect and it was like we were all friends.”

In the early 1990s, there were many ski trips offered at Bayview Glen. “We went skiing everywhere, from Quebec to upstate New York and France. There was even a March Break trip in Grade 12 where we travelled with a couple of teachers to Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and France, with a few days of skiing in Chamonix. We did a lot of sight-seeing and cultural activities as well. It was a great experience!”

“Looking back, something I really value about my education at Bayview Glen was the emphasis on being well-rounded. We were encouraged to take part in athletics, drama, academics. It was a sort of Renaissance education – we had Latin in Grade 7 and 8! The message was clear: you can enter any field you want because you have had a diverse education. You have the communication skills, quantitative skills and the ability to synthesize all the information — you can go anywhere you want in the world.”

Vinay chose to enroll at McMaster University upon graduating from Bayview Glen, and he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Science (Hons.) degree there.  By third year of his undergraduate degree, Vinay knew that he wanted to work in the health sciences, and decided he wanted to be a dentist. He earned his DDS from the University of Toronto in 2001, and subsequently completed a one-year internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. He completed his Master of Science and specialty training in Periodontology at the University of Toronto in 2005. Vinay is a Fellow and Examiner of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada and Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, and is a member of the International Team for Implantology (ITI). He is also involved in didactic and clinical teaching of periodontics at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels and holds the rank of Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto. One of the things which Vinay enjoys the most is lecturing both nationally and internationally.

Along the way, he met and married his wife, Sherry, and they have two young daughters, both of whom attend Bayview Glen. “It is so nice to come full circle, and be back at Bayview Glen as a parent this time,” Vinay says. “Bayview Glen was always more accessible than other private schools, perhaps because it was a younger school, with a smaller enrolment. Today, it is so much bigger and yet retains that down-to-earth humility. What’s more, the values remain consistent with what I was taught there years ago. It’s a very special place and I am proud to have my daughters follow in my footsteps.”

Bayview Glen School is proud to include Dr. Vinay Bhide, BVG ’93, amongst our Notable Alumni and he is the 2013 recipient of the Bayview Glen Distinguished Alumnus Award.