Monday, October 8, 2012

Seasonal progress: some things pass away and some open up



After a long weekend, I realized how appreciative I was to be at school past six o’clock; I was eager to be headed home but was content with admitting that here is where I “belonged.” I am determined to enjoy this membership to its fullest during these four years.



3 classes complete
It’s hard to believe that I am eight weeks into my dental school career! The first year class has completed their first three courses (Gross Anatomy, Neuroanatomy, and Operative Dentistry (dental simulation clinic portion). Last week, we began Dental Anatomy, in which we carve teeth out of wax to study their intricate details. It has been exciting to re-enter the world of microbiology in our Infection and Immunology course. We’ve been meeting several new clinical instructors in our Clinical Dentistry class (which includes introductory Periodontics, Evidence-Based Dentistry, and basic clinical skills). We will transition into a non-computerized simulation clinic to continue developing Operative Dentistry techniques. Now that we’re not in cadaver labs for 3 hours a day, we are wearing our class scrubs; all 97 of us in hunter green with our names and graduation year embroidered on the scrub top. Being amidst a mass of green is becoming a comforting norm. It is also becoming comforting to interact with and pass alongside upperclassmen in other colored scrubs, a reminder that they’ve been through all that awaits us. The next few weeks appear busy so that the remainder of the semester may fly by.


After three days (a total of about 11 hours) of work, I submitted my maxillary central incisor (#8) wax carving. The task is tedious but very enjoyable so long as I don’t dwell on the time or the graded outcome of the end product.

MOM Project in Grundy, VA
This past weekend, I participated in a dental RAM (remote area missions) project in Grundy, VA, located in the southwest mountainous region of the state. The VCU School of Dentistry devoutly organizes these Mission of Mercy (MOM) Projects and generously allows several students to take part in the experience.

We were told that Grundy, VA is a town no bigger than 5 miles in diameter, home to around 1,000 residents. The three-story shopping plaza (with a parking garage on the second floor and a Wal-Mart on the third floor) were distinctive recent changes to the town, although quarries and coalmines are still the most prevalent employment options.

I enjoyed assisting with restorations (fillings) as well as washing the suction lines with bactericidal chemicals after each patient and scrubbing instruments after operative use. It was wonderful to be working on teeth on real live people (as opposed to our typodont dummy in the simulation clinics). I was glad to be reminded of the interpersonal aspect of dentistry, a core reason for my pursuit of the career. I also enjoyed seeing and assisting several dentists from Harrisonburg and meeting others. It is great to work with and learn from clinicians that are passionate about helping underserved areas. I am hopeful that my post-dental school NHSC service site will foster more of these interactions.


When visiting the town’s Wal-Mart, I was bewildered to see an escalator at the store (one that carried both shoppers and their carts)...No wonder we have to continue stripping the Appalachians of their gentle slopes—how else would we operate several escalators 24/7?! But the connection between coal mines and the superfluous technology doesn’t seem apparent, despite that the two are less than five miles apart.

Bicycling amidst the mountains
Earlier in September, I visited my parents in the Valley and was surprised by how much I missed the ever-present mountain-scape. I just couldn’t get enough of the sun(rise/set) coloration and the soothing effect produced by sensing the ridges enveloping me round-about. Perhaps I was experiencing that which Weidensaul explains in the introduction to his book, Mountains of the Heart:

“...mountains in general seem to exert an especially profound grip on the human imagination. Whatever the reason, I get twitchy when I spend too much time in a place where the highest point on the horizon is a telephone pole or a grain silo. I need to be able to look into the hills and know that I could disappear into them when the tame world gets to be too much, like a promise of refuge always waiting on the doorstep” (VII, Introduction)


While in the Valley, I participated in the Bike Shenandoah (“cycle for service”) event. I signed up for a 30-mile ride but resolved to cycle from my parents’ home in Weyers Cave to Harrisonburg (where the ride began). Meeting my relatives at a park in Bridgewater after the ride for a family picnic, I totaled 57 miles--I’m glad I didn’t sign up for the metric century ride!

Being in transit or indoors in the city (Richmond), I hadn’t even noticed the mountains’ absence but was still able to recognize my nostalgia for the Valley’s topography when visiting. Perhaps I will act on this affinity and gravitate towards someday settling near the rounded Appalachians.

Fall is in the air
It’s been very exhilarating to catch a whiff of crisp autumn air during these past few days. I am especially eager to welcome fall and winter this year as I left wintery VA in January for temperate Honduras and Peru returned during mid-spring, at the end of April. I await the completion of my twentieth year at the end of the month and hope to catch a bit of the Valley before the trees develop and lose their glory.

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