In a ceremony both serious and celebratory, the Dentistry Class of 2023 and Dental Hygiene Class of 2022 on Friday marked their transition to clinical care learning. Symbolic of their beginning to treat patients, members of the DH class received new scrubs, and members of the DDS class received their white coats.
The white coat “is light in weight but heavy in responsibility,” said one of the faculty speakers, Dr. Lance Godley, who spends a lot of time helping first and second year students in the Pre-clinic Lab as interim director of clinical operations.
The ceremony, overseen by Dr. Keerthana Satheesh, chair of the Department of Periodontics, also included remarks from interim Dean Russ Melchert and Carley Havner of the DH faculty. Each class read its code of ethics, drawn up by the students, and each student was called to the stage to sign the code and receive scrubs or white coat.
The DH Class of 2022 was led in its oath by classmates AlexMarie Davis and Cinthia Ramos, who helped plan the ceremony along with Year 3 DDS students Ryann Burnett and Brooklyn Woodworth.
Before the ceremony, all four shared their thoughts on what transitioning to patient care meant to them, and how they had made it to this milestone.
Ramos, who worked as a dental assistant for three years to help pay her way, said, “Staying on top of my studies as I worked fulltime was especially challenging given that I had to maintain a high GPA to be considered as a candidate for this program. In the end, the sleepless nights lost to studying and homework were worth it, and I’m extremely excited and honored to be officially transitioning into the profession.”
For her part, Davis said, “Moving into the clinical part of my education makes me realize that I am no longer responsible for just myself, but for the care and management of the many patients I see. I am both excited and humbled to have this opportunity.
“As dental hygienists, we have the unique privilege of spending intimate, quality time with our patients once every 3-6 months. Not many health care providers have this opportunity. Working so closely with patients has taught me that being genuine and compassionate is very important in this profession.”
Ramos and Davis both thanked the faculty for the extra effort that got them to this point despite the pandemic. Davis said her “special thank you to the entire UMKC dental hygiene faculty” included recognizing Professor Christina Baker “for being a true superwoman this past year.”
For the DDS Class of 2023, Burnett said students from the Class of 2022 had provided a great experience this summer.
”For most of the summer, we have assisted the fourth-year dental students with their patients, which allows us to observe and then develop our own routine,” she said. “The fourth-year students have been great in providing excellent advice and answering my many questions. They understand because they were in my position just a year ago.”
And after two years of working in pre-clinic on plastic teeth and mannequins, she said, it’s exciting to advance to helping patients.
“I think the next year in clinic will present new challenges as we complete dental procedures for the first time, but with the help of our peers and faculty we can do it,” she said.
Woodworth added, “I have been looking forward to treating patients for as long as I can remember, and I cannot believe that the first two years of dental school are behind me. This is a huge step toward the career of my dreams, and I could not be happier.”
Woodworth, as an Arkansas resident, worked hard just to get to UMKC, her first-choice dental school. Arkansas has no dental schools, she explained, so she had to compete for a spot in the dental schools in surrounding states. “I am incredibly grateful to be attending a school that has prepared me so well to start treating patients,” she said.
Burnett and Woodworth each ticked off a long list of classmate friends who had gotten them through their first two years of dental school, and one name appeared on both of their lists: Edgardo “Eddie” Leiva.
“We closed down the library every night studying for the last two years,” Burnett said. “Without his feedback and assistance, I would not have acquired the hand skill I have today.”
Leiva, Woodworth added, “has been a stellar classmate who never fails to lend a helping hand in class, lab or life in general to any student who needs it, me included.”
The students also thanked the faculty for making it possible to be able to celebrate the transition to patient care in person with family and friends, something last year’s classes were not able to do.
Ramos summed up: “I’m extremely proud of our class. We’ve worked super hard to get where we are, and it has not been easy because of the circumstances with the pandemic. We’ve kept a positive outlook and continue working hard to achieve our goals.”
Candid photos from the event here.
Dental Class of 2023 student portraits
Dental Hygiene Class of 2022 portraits here.