University of the Pacific School of Dentistry - Chips Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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MY LAST WORD TO THE SENIORS. Dr. B. Rosen. Three years ago, you, the present Senior Dental Class, were with fear and trembling entering upon your college career. , The road to a degree in your chosen profession seemed endless, blocked by innumerable obstacles, and in fact an apparently overwhelming task. i The first week of college was one that meant a great deal to each student, the memory of which will linger long after your many experiences, while at college, will have been forgotten. The practical and instructive talks of Dr. Anderson and Dr. Southard caused you to stop and think, to realize the seriousness of your position, and the responsibilities connected with it. The inspiring and sterling advice of Dr. Boxton and Dr. Morffew made you all the more deetermined to succeed, and you attacked the work before you with strength and vigor which pointed but one way-success. After recalling these incidents, let us con- sider a few of the practical and essential details that every stu- dent 'should be acquainted with. My object is not to preach a sermon on ethics, neither is it to moralize on dentistry. I sim- ply want to give the advice that has proven to be correct, at least it has for me. First and most important is the loyalty that you owe to your Alma Mater, and I appeal to you not to forget in future years that the basis of your success was laid by the instructors of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. A man must live, and eat to live. This statement is, in- deed, a true one, and is worthy of considerable attention, as the average graduate has an abnormal appetite. To have our ex- istence, it is necessary to produce something worth while in exchange for the necessities of life. Right here let me say that one of the mistakes in the pres- ent method of professional education is the omission of a course in business instruction. Many a practitioner, excellent in his line, has failed, merely because he did not possess the knowledge of tactful, reasonable, business methods. Not that I advocate the advertising means of making money, but, my object is to call to your attention the fact that a reasonable compensation for your efforts is a just due. Putting the matter plainly, your fees will be exactly in accordance to your ability, to produce the goods. If you have confidence in yourself, not over-conii- dence, but a substantial knowledge of your profession, you can set your price on whatever you do, and demand of your patient conditions that otherwise would be impossible. 30

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SEX IN SCIENCE. While it is generally agreed that success in any chosen pro- fession depends upon the individual and not upon the sex of the individual, still we are all more or less bound by customs of the past, and to most of us the thought of agirl studying medicine is repugnant. The legacy of customs, bequeathed to us by our grandmothers, makes the study of medicine, in some of its phases, difficult in the extreme to the girl student. It was not customary in her grandmother's time for ladies to discuss anatomy. I-Ier grandmother blushed when it became necessary for her to mention her limb. The girl of today reasons that her grandmother was unnecessarily prudish, but instincts are only inherited habits and these customs have been handed down so long that they are now bred in the bone and no amount of reasoning will enable the'girl to lay them aside as she does her garments that have ceased to be the fashion. She must grow out of them slowly. The girl student enters college resolved that she will un- flinchingly face all ordeals, but at times her courage runs short before the close of some of her particularly trying lectures and she is obliged to retreat, leaving her lecturer, who cannot possi- bly understand her attitude, to think that she has chosen this way of showing her disapproval of his subject. One cannot help wondering why a girl-should choose this work. VVhy submit herself to this ordeal? She does so feeling very much as does one who takes a sea voyage, knowing that he must suffer all the agonies of seasickness, but takes it not- withstanding because his goal is worth the agonies of the voy- age. Viewed from any side, the art of healing is well worth the cost. There is no art that offers such an abundance of oppor- tunities for service. Viewed from a point of science, the science of medicine correlates all science into an intimate human rela- tionship. It is said that the study of medicine makes a girl masculine. There are many masculine traits that could be cultivated to a girl's advantage. There are others that are not becoming to either sex. VVhich she cultivates, depends upon the individual girl. C. A., '15, 29

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Your professional opinion must dominate your patient, or the patient will dominate you, which means unsatisfactory re- sults for both parties concerned. Co-operation is vitally nt to sary, bntiti is often imperative that you put aside this means and use plainer methods to demonstrate your ideas on how work should, and must be done, to accomplish desired ends. The young practitioner often sets his hopes too high, botl, financially and mechanically. It is quite true that the embryo dentist must forget many things learned at college, and acquire worldly ways, but if he bears in mind the fact that simplicity, both in mechanics and finances, accomplishes results where com- plexity of aims fail, his way will be easier and his lot more desira- ble. If you find that business is rushing past your door, don't be discouraged. Do the very best that is in you, and in the end you will win out. Remember this, a satisfied patient is better than ten electric sings advertising your presence, and every good piece of work you turn out has a string attached to it, with your name on one end and an enthusiastic booster on the other. One other matter that I would like to impress upon you is the necessity of having a plain talk with your patients on oral hygiene at the conclusion of a sitting. Many people fail to ob- serve the little necessary details of cleanliness about the mouth that would prolong the life of your work and save themselves expense and pain. This talk, supplemented with instructions on the use of toothbrush, fioss silk, mouth washes and the like, never fails to produce an effect upon the patient which is most desira- ble. In concluding my words 'of advice, allow me to compliment you on the results of your work. Unquestionably the accom- plishments of your class will be a standard for students to come, and it is with pride that I look back to you as the men who were my first Freshmen May every success that dentistry affords be yours, and when the road seems rough and the way hard, keep smiling, don't worryg work. PERICEMENTAL ANESTHESIA. Q-Peridental or Intraosseous Anesthesia., jackson H. Smith, Graduating Class of 1912. Local anesthetics, of late years have been utilized more and more, in surgical procedures, which formerly demanded the ad- ministrations of a general anesthetic. In the use of any local anesthetic, the maximum effect can be realized only by careful attention to the details of the method of injection. In no case is diligent care more necessary than in that of pericemental anesthesia-the technique of which I am about to describe, according to instructions received by students of dentistry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 31