Wednesday January 4th -- or as they say in German, "Mittwoch" (mid-week)

Speaking of speaking German: last week, as I was climbing the 95 stairs to my apartment, I ended up walking beside a guy who asked if I was from Germany. 

I replied, "No, I am from the US,"  and that prompted his next question. 

"Where in the US?"

"Dallas, Texas," I said.

And then he told me that he completed a Masters Degree in English at the University of North Texas at Denton (Just North of Dallas). Then he had lived in central DFW and worked as an English teacher in Fort Worth for 5 years before returning to Nepal. I just love these "small world" stories that continue to prove to me how minuscule and interconnected the world is. 

In 2005, Thomas Friedman published his classic tome, "The World is Flat" about global economic equalization and interdependence. Supposedly, much of his insight for that book was derived from a trip to Bangalore, India. Recent supply chain issues support his hypothesis to a certain extent. However, despite my continually finding these "small world" experiences, I can't say that I fully agree with Friedman. Although the world is changing and more interconnected than ever, it is absolutely not "flat." Despite many good efforts from NGOs and others, ginormous inequities in economics, healthcare and quality of life persist and will probably always exist.

At school this morning I spent some time consulting with Anil, Oral Medicine faculty and general dentists of the Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics department. The case had  3 anterior teeth that will ultimately require endodontic surgery. A CBCT showed one of the apical lesions to be large with palatal cortical perforation. Another tooth had a horizontal fracture in the apical few mms. These are interesting cases because there are lots of potential treatment options -- with lots of "gray areas."

Here we are reviewing the digital radiographs.

Here we are in the Oral Medicine and Radiology Department watching a student use an electric pulp tester on the patient.

Here we are reviewing the CBCT volume with Oral Radiologist, Dr. Harleen.

I saw this poster on the wall of the Oral Medicine Department, and was fascinated to see that this guy was born in Bozeman, Montana -- where I lived and practiced for 20 years! I have never heard of Lester Burket before, but supposedly the most widely used oral medicine textbook still bears his name. My grandmother, Anna Nordquist Suneson, grew up in Bozeman around the same time as Dr. Burket. I wonder if she might have known this guy or his family? She told me that actor Gary Cooper went to her high school. This poster describes how Dr. Burket sought to integrate dentistry and medicine -- a plight still battled today.

At lunch today I think my face got sunburned in the 30 minutes I sat outside at the Canteen. Indeed, as predicted in yesterday's blog, the taro root (yam) was the featured dish today. It really tastes almost indiscernible from potato -- starchy. It nicely balances out the spice of the curry.

Tomorrow after work, Dr. Kafle with transport me back to Kathmandu. I am now all packed and again ready to travel.