University of Southern California School of Dentistry - El Molaro (Los Angeles, CA)

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Bill King, President Gus Angelos, Vice-President Norm Beyers, Secretary-Treasurer SENIOR YEAR At last, the fourth and final stage In our metamorphorsis into dentists. Double clinics, prosthetic set ups, special perio cases, endodontics, Notional Board, the Senior Farewell Dance and graduation. It ' s true, it wasn ' t all down hill this year as many told us it would be, but we certainly did begin to feel a little more confident and proud of our endeavors. Some of us even figured out how to do the endless paper work around the clinic during this year. The prospect of graduation was tremendous. But graduation again meant change. A new phase in our lives along with the somewhat unhappy knowledge that close friends made during the four years might not be seen as often as we ' d like. Similar feelings toward certain instructors being completely absent. Possibly the biggest blow was the realization that after four years of living off the fat of the land, we were go- ing to have to get out and work for a living.

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SborUS: Frustration 42 Frustration no other word could better describe the first year in the clinic. Not only did we all suffer from our own frustrations, but also from those of some of the instructors. J. J. just a whisper more Gilbert and the students ' friend Sheriff I ' m here to help you fellows Vaughn being good examples. The latter also being a part of the famous duo of Vaughn and Green, the greatest twosome to hit the circuit since Mutt and Jeff. The thing that amazed all of us students was how Slu and Joe always agreed on everything (bridgework, that is), even when the X-rays were studied upside down. Ah, fond memories and ulcers (if you didn ' t have a bleed- ing one you weren ' t one of the boys). Then there was Frank the magician, another important cog in the prosthodontic wheel. Here was the only man on earth that could actually disappear right in front of your eyes, when you needed teeth selected for an immedi- ate, and not reappear again for two weeks (your patient in the chair the entire time, of course). Rumor had it that it was actually all done with mouth mirrors and the hiding place was behind the small door located near the denture packing table in the lab. But the true answer to this bit of sorcery as well as to many others around the clinic, will have to be found by succeeding classes — good luck, boys, we gave it snoose and had no luck at all. Possibly the only portion of the staff that really seemed unmoved by the frayed nerves, aching ulcers, and ut- ter chaos that was constantly about them were the department secretaries. Especially those located in the pros- thodontic and periodontic offices. Here the word speed was unknown and calmness and coffee breaks prevailed. Undaunted by the fact that she was not the speediest of the secretaries, Jane feels that she should certainly be considered for efficiency honors. As many noted when she wasn ' t grinding glaze, concocting a rore ambrosia for Doc Green and Colonel Dixon, having a coffee break, addressing personal Christmas cards, telling jokes, dying her hair, dragging her heels, assuming a movie star pose, or explaining the fine points of patient man- agement to a student, or dentistry to Doctor Green, she was really quite efficient. And then came the first operative clinic. Blood pressures were at an all time high and ulcers, long since hav- ing perforated, were now having baby ulcers. Of course, no matter how good the student, he couldn ' t perform without a patient. Where to get a patient??? Dr. Conley ' s secretary was the person to see when this sort of problem confronted one. Again, in this office, as in most offices in the clinic, the student was treated like a prince (here prince, here prince!). Never did a student leave this office without the patient he need ed or a prom- ise for a patient before the dreaded clinic, and always with a smile. After cancelling your first clinic for lack of a patient and begging the operative department for another date as soon as possible so you could make up the deficit, you returned to your regular routine in the clinic, com- prised mostly of standing in one line or another, or getting learned by one of the female help. Other Helpfuls around the clinic included J. T. Ankeny, (no term could adequately explain his problem), The Red Bear, Robert The Letter Writer Buchanan, Jon and Danny, the gold dust twins of the perio department, and Leonard The Lion Hural. Can we forget this individual ' s unique ability to draw the best out of a student in the presence of a patient? But if all these hurdles weren ' t enough to break the spirit of the student, there was always the chair affair to which to look forward. A little background is needed here to realize the justifiable means by which this whole problem arose. For many years now classes have been limited to 105 students a year. Junior and Senior classes combined, thus, would have a sum total of approximately 210 — less a few fortunates who flunked out, or saw the light before it was too late (this is all higher mathematics, of course). It must certainly then seem quite log- ical that when the new dental school was built there would not be 210 chairs, but 170 chairs, thus making possi- ble the Choir affair, a real spine tingling game especially on clinic days. (Nobody has played musical chairs until they ' ve played it at the clinic on Tuesday or Friday). Of course, the day that you found yourself without a chair was always just the appointment after you ' d really given your patient blazes for being late the time be- fore. Now the pleasing affair of having to go out and tell your now prompt patient to turn around and go home always a little old lady that was half blind, walked with a cane, and rode the bus complete with 7 transfers all the way from East Cucamonga. But never fear — here was where patient management came in and we were all well schooled in this important subject. A cheery good morning to Grandma to disarm her for what was about to come and then quick as a flash handing her an appointment slip for the following week, explaining to her the foresight of the designers of the dental clinic, noting to her that it was only 9:15 and if she hurried she ' d be home (after 7 transfers) by 4:30 at the latest, sans dental work of course. Strange thing how these patients were always the special perios and the partial prosthetic cases and just no- body seemed to know why so many of these patients never returned for further treatment. Oh well, that was the student ' s problem and if he couldn ' t solve it, it must surely be that he was a poor student in Patient Manage- ment and must be graded accordingly. In pre-Pierre Fouchard times it is rumored that patients were treated on the floor instead of in dental chairs. It is understood that this method has also been tried in the clinic by several enterprising students in order to alleviate the chair affair. However, this has been contemptuously looked down upon by some of the arthritic instruc- tors that are unable to assume the necessory positions for giving checks on these patients and so now is almost extinct. Several other positions have also been suggested by numerous students for some of these instructors, especially the Gra y Ghost in the prosthetics department with all the colored pencils. But each day in the clinic had itssilver lining and this was the fact that five o ' clock always seemed to roll around, no matter how bad things went. At five o ' clock the student looked forward to a few cheery words from their old friend Guy the janitor. Here ' s the man that should have been the instructor for Patient Manage- ment. His tact and careful selection of words when talking to the students was excellent only by his respect for same. Yes, the first year in the clinic was certainly the yeor of frustration. We were almost afraid of what was fo fol- low. In actuality, a pleasant surprise was ahead.

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The Last 10 Months 901 Club is session. The end ' s in siglit; let ' s have a party. Refueling, and back to the clinic floor.