Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery - Dental Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

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C°D°5 To The Graduating Class of 1922 : OUR years ago you began your study of dentistry with the hopes that in 1922 you would graduate and receive your diploma. All of you have been following your chosen studies for four years and «m«nv some will be fortunate enough to complete the course satisfactorily and be given the privilege of taking the State Board examination in order that you may practice your profession. When you began your studies as Freshmen, four years appeared as a long time to work towards attaining some definite goal. However that time has probably passed more rapidly than you imagine, and now as you are closing your college days you probably look back and realize that if you had those four years to live over again you could put some of the time to better advantage than yon did. As a Class, you have made the same mistakes and had the same problems that practically every other class had before you. You have considered some of the subjects which your professors and teachers have given you as useless ; some of the things which they have tried to impress upon you, as worthless, and it may still be a few years longer before you appreciate the efforts made to impart enough knowledge to you to enable you to go out and practice your profession and render service to the public and yourself. You must remember when you take up the practice of a profession that to a certain extent, you become the servant of the public. I can safely say that the majority of you took up the practice of dentistry because you be- lieved it would be a good way to make a livelihood and some of you even were so commercial as to imagine that dentistry was an easy way to make money. I am not accusing you of being guilty of anything that classes have not been guilty of before you, but the ideas which a student has when he takes up the study of any profession are probably very different from his thoughts at the time of his graduation. His mind will also be changed after he has practiced several years, providing he makes a success of the work. Some of you probably imagine that success in the practice of a profes- sion consists in accumulating a large amount of money, which is more or less of a mistaken idea. It is true that men in th e practice of a profession have accumulated wealth, as in any business, but the fellow who ' has been successful financially is also a man who has been successful professionally. By that I mean, your greatest object in life should be the serving of hu- manity. You should realize that you are able to follow your profession because men before you have contributed to the knowledge which has benefited you. Things, which it has taken years to learn and perfect, have been given you in but a few minutes, comparatively speaking, and you are able to profit thereby, financially and also render service to the public. is 2a B ttttv:) l J Page Six

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Q ° 5 ao fcritn Drutrij. ifl.3., EJ.§ . fith us, tl]r druartiug daaa of 1322. shall re- main ritrrlastiuglu n rrurrrtirr attb reaper! for our fHau among men, A man mhoac untiring rft ' orta anil rouragrnns rotmirtians hanc attained for liim IFamr, as the beacon light to urogrrsa in the oental profession. {Therefore as an enouring memorial of our high rstcem, anil mialiiug h.int (Soo-apreo in liia rhoaen mork, me reepertfullij oroirate thia hook. ffllass nf 1922 IS 22 A. H Page Five

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D I realize that all of you will not be professional successes. A small number of you may. for a number of years be able to succeed financially without rendering proper service to the public, but you will find that those who have practiced dentistry purely from the financial standpoint, will be short-lived in the profession. As you look back over the dental profession and see those men who have made places in professional history, you should realize that they have suc- ceeded because of professional ability and as a result of that the majority of them have obtained a compensation in accordance to their professional standing. Therefore, I want to impress upon you the one fact that your duty to the public is to render a service to that public because the very existance of your profession depends upon the public who has created laws, made ■standard requirements and regulations which enable you to have a profes- sion which has the desired dignity. As a class you are entering the practice of dentistry at a most oppor- tune time. There never has been a time in the history of the World that dentistry has occupied the prominent place it does to-day, and consequently you are able to grasp the opportunities which did not even exist for last year ' s class. The public is educated to appreciate dental service and because of this, the man who is able to fulfill those demands is the one who is going to succeed, while the others who attempt to fool the public are going to meet with early disaster. The fortunate position which you occupy to-day is one which you should take advantage of. While you may criticize some of the things you were taught in college; and you may feel that in certain subjects the instruction was not what you would like it to be. nevertheless, as a whole you must remember that your course has been worked out as the result of years of study by men who have given much time to the phase, and you are going out better prepared to practice your profession than any other class has before you. That is be- cause the teaching of dentistry has advanced as well as the demands of the public, and you are therefore, better qualified to fulfill those requirements than any before you were at graduation. Of course you must remember that you are only beginning. For the student who thinks his student days are over when he graduates from college, I can only predict failure. Commencement Day is really the commence- ment. and from that time on it depends upon yourself whether you will be a success or a failure. You will have to keep studying all of the time and the student who sells his textbooks is the man who is headed for profes- sional failure. Therefore, as a final word of parting, let me say to you: Be earnest and studious, and realize that you have a certain place to fill in this world and do it in the best manner that is in you. and always remember he serves most who serves best. Martin Dewey, M.D.. D.D.S. mi» I S 2 2 fey Page Seven