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Dr. Tom Boran (Photo Danny Abriel)

Dr. Tom Boran (DDS’78) has a long history with Dalhousie University. He was just 17 when he arrived from Springhill, NS, in 1972 to study chemistry.  But being a student is only one of the many roles he has filled during his 53-year connection with Dalhousie. 
 
After graduating with his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1978, Boran returned one year later to teach prosthodontics part time. After several different teaching and administrative roles, including dean, he’s never really left the Dentistry Building. One of the roles he most prizes is that of donor.
 
For that reason, a piece of Boran’s heart will always be at Dal long after he does eventually retire. The Dr. Tom Boran Oral Health Outreach Fund was established in March 2017 to help support the Faculty of Dentistry’s outreach clinics in the Halifax area and it has helped countless patients who would not be able to afford dental care to receive the care they need. The fund was renamed the Dr. Tom and Deb Boran Oral Health Outreach Fund in 2019, the year his wife unexpectedly died.  
 
A living will
This year, Boran arranged to boost the Dr. Tom and Deb Boran Oral Health Outreach Fund with the gift of a $200,000 life insurance policy. He started the policy over 40 years ago when he was setting up a new practice and wanted to provide some coverage for his wife and young sons. It will be a significant boost to the outreach fund when the policy is paid out in the future. 
 
"It’s like a living will in the sense that I can designate where the money goes and feel good about it feel now, rather than simply leave the money to Dalhousie in my will," says Boran. Another benefit is that the insurance premiums he continues to pay are treated as charitable donations, which means that Boran enjoys tax benefits now.
 
"I think everybody should know that this way of making a gift is available to them," says Boran. "Those of us who are baby boomers have done quite well, and many of us have that ability to give back."
 
Get the good feeling
The inspiration to make the gift in this way came from a strategic estate planning seminar that was held in the Faculty of Dentistry in April this year. The presenter from Strategos Group told the audience about several different options, but this was the one that attracted Boran. 
 
"I knew that I could leave the policy to Dalhousie in my will," he says, "but I didn’t know about this option which would allow me to designate the gift now and enjoy the tax benefits now, too. This way you get the good feeling and a financial reward."  
 
The process was straightforward, says Boran. The Advancement Office at Dal helped him through the process and there were just a few forms to sign. Boran also had to contact his insurance company, Sun Life, to change the named beneficiary on the policy. His three sons, who were the original beneficiaries of the policy, supported the change.
 
The mission that drives him
The outreach clinics in Halifax, Dartmouth, and North Preston have always been near and dear to Boran’s heart. During his years as dean, he worked to increase support to the Faculty of Dentistry from alumni and grant-funding bodies to be able to provide patients on low incomes or living in marginalized communities with the necessary oral health care at little or no cost to themselves. 
 
One of the programs Boran helped to set up was what is now called the Government Assisted Populations program, which continues to provide dental hygiene and dental care to new immigrants and refugees. Currently, Boran spends term time teaching at the North End Community Health Centre dental clinic and the sponsored care clinic, for patients on low incomes, in the Dentistry Building.
 
Boran believes that these clinics are an essential component of oral health-care students’ education, giving them valuable experience working on cases they would not normally see in the main Faculty of Dentistry student clinic, and helping them to develop the skills and empathy needed for treating patients from different backgrounds and situations.
 
Giving back to the students and the patients who need care the most are the focus of Boran’s ongoing involvement with the Faculty of Dentistry as both instructor and donor. "As long I still feel like I’m giving something back and doing a good job, I’ll continue to do it," he says.