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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