In January 2009, Richard Smith re-enrolled at UW-Madison after a 46-year hiatus. He is a distinguished dental surgeon who left UW-Madison for dental school at Columbia in 1963 without completing his undergraduate education.
When you were a little boy, what did you think you would do when you grew up?
I always thought that I would like engineering. When I first came to Madison, I was unsure as to what direction I would take. Engineering? Or pre-med, pre-dental courses? I decided the first year to take required courses for dental school.
How did you make that decision?
Thinking and talking to people. Talked to friends, older students. I saw that engineering was not something I was interested in at the time. Reality checked in. [I asked myself,] “Could you see yourself practicing in a hospital?” That sounded more interesting than engineering.
How did you make the decision to finish your undergraduate degree?
When I left Madison in 1963, it was always in the back of my mind to come back and complete my degree. Now the Internet has facilitated my capability to do this remotely.
What’s your major?
I have a joint major. History and history of science and medicine. When I went to UW I was a history major. History of science because I’ve been an oral surgeon for the last 42 years.
What courses are you taking this semester?
History of Science 507. It’s a course on healing and disease given by Dr. Walton Schalick.
What interests you about that class?
One of the most interesting concepts that I learned in the course “Health, Disease and Healing” was that medicine’s distinctive ideas and written sources of authoritative teaching did not originate in medieval Western Europe but were drawn from Greek antiquity and the world of Islam. Also, the medieval cathedral school, monasteries, the medical school at Salerno and the universities at Paris, Montepellier, Bologna and Padua served as repositories of medical learning and practice. The medieval renaissance of the 12th century should not be viewed as the Dark Ages but a period of a flourishing tradition of medical practice. This course would be of interest to history of science majors as well as pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-nursing and pre-pharmacy students.
Tell me more about the paper you recently submitted for publication.
That was something that I had to write last year [for class]. We had to select a topic. I decided to do childhood disability. I wrote that and thought it may be of interest to my profession. I submitted that to the Journal of Disability and Oral Health [six weeks ago].
What surprised you when you were researching and writing about that subject?
Infant mortality in the U.S. and around the world. You know, because people will say that infant mortality is higher in the U.S. than other countries. That is true. The way the U.S. determines mortality is different. [In other countries] if you die during childbirth, that’s infant mortality; if the child dies three days after birth, that’s not. In the U.S. if a child dies within three days of birth that is considered infant mortality.
What’s it like taking a course online?
I can tell you that I was impressed with the online course I took this summer. It was with Jeremi Suri on grand American strategy. It was well done. They give you a video introduction, all online, and then a 50-minute lecture through iTunes. They would post questions every week that you have to answer. Your professor and fellow students have to respond. There is a lot of reading and responding. It felt like you got to know the teaching assistant, because there would be constant communication.
What motivates you?
Doing well is important to me. I’m not the kind of person that just wants to get through it. I want to see some kind of successful outcome or result. And there is a pride thing. Not about getting a better job. Getting my undergrad degree now won’t get a better job. It’s a personal challenge.
Do you have any advice for other students, both traditional and non-traditional?
I think that people can learn in many different ways. You don’t have you take the traditional course, there are many ways of learning; a nice blend of educational formats makes it interesting.
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