2020 – Year End Review
While there are those who may wish 2020 were already over, I have to admit that I am not one of them.
I can’t remember a time in my professional life when I’ve been more proud. Never before have we come together to meet such a crisis head on. To solve a problem. To boldly go where very few – if any – have ever been before.
That’s what happened at your School of Dentistry this year as the COVID-19 virus spread around the world. And made its way to our campus, to our classes and to our clinics.
A model for success
It’s one thing to prepare for the worst, but it’s another to prepare for the unknown. Particularly when the unknown, and what you thought you knew, changes so frequently.
Throughout the spring and summer of 2020 you and your School of Dentistry paved the way for the health sciences and other schools at VCU to reopen when COVID-19 put a halt to everyday life. By practicing safety protocols, you played a crucial role in our reopening.
Our mitigation plan turned out to become a model for success. But our return to classes and clinics wouldn’t have been possible without a full-court team approach that included the ADA, VDA, VCU and VCU Health System. Along with these organized entities, students, faculty and staff worked together to create a “new normal” for our patients and clinics, and our future.
Thank you for doing your part
I couldn’t be more proud of this esprit de corps that kept your clinics and school afloat during unprecedented financial uncertainty. All during a time of wrenching racial disparity.
Your flexibility and willingness to stay the course on this journey into a new world of learning and patient care is what helps us continue to weather the COVID-19 storm.
We’ll continue to succeed and to learn from each new day. We’ll be kinder to one another and persevere in spite of setbacks that are bound to happen.
Keep it up
My final words to you this year are critical in order to maintain our safety success:
–Stay at least 6 ft. apart
–Keep your hands clean – wash them often for at least 20 seconds
–Wear your mask – cover your nose and your mouth
–Be diligent as you follow these proven safety measures
–If you see something that doesn’t seem right, say something or ask someone to intervene
–Do not become complacent
We are all only as safe as we make each other. Vaccinations on the horizon do not make COVID-19 less dangerous today or tomorrow.
Thank you for caring about yourself, your colleagues and your patients.
May you and those you care about be safe and well now and throughout the coming new year.
