2020 has redefined society in many ways, the merits of which I will leave up to you. Dinner with the family has turned into socially-distant walks around the neighborhood. A night out with friends has been swapped with virtual game nights. Fast-food has been replaced with home-cooked meals. Unfortunately for us, smiles have been replaced with masks. Now, we live in a society where everyone is required to wear a mask and be socially distant. I have found myself walking around clinic smiling at professors, classmates and patients only to realize that my face was covered with two masks and a face shield.
Though I do not yet have much experience as a clinician, I have spent my fair share of time playing the role of the patient. Walking in and out of waiting rooms of doctors’ offices is arguably monotonous and soon enough the names and faces of doctors begin to muddle together. Sometimes, it was the warmth of the doctor’s smile that set the tone for the entire appointment. The smile was a simple nonverbal gesture capable of transcending cultures and bridging language barriers. A smile could signify happiness, joy, and love all with the tug of a couple muscles.
As a student-dentist, I have had the opportunity to interact with patients who have experienced undue amounts of stress in their lives as a result of the pandemic. I am not only tasked with learning to deliver dental care to my patients but doing so in a compassionate way. From tapping into my rusty high-school Spanish or finding common ground through my Asian-American background, I have had to be creative in the ways that I redefine my smile. 2020 has been a year of lessons and the one I will forever carry with me is finding different ways to smile.
Shwetha Ramanathan, Class of 2022