The College of Dentistry is (mostly) back to normal after 2+ years of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The College, along with the rest of the university, sent its students home effective March 16, 2020, and faculty & staff were instructed to work from home.  The College, including the DPH program, quickly transitioned to virtual education, but all clinical activities were suspended.  Clinical activities resumed on a very limited basis in late May, 2020, and the College began exploring ways to resume more ‘normal’ operations and testing of aerosol mitigation strategies.  Eventually, the College began employing external suction devices and refined personal protective equipment, which allowed students to return in July of that year.  At first, students were limited to simulation activities, but eventually, students returned to clinical patient care very close to the usual schedule.  By the beginning of 2021, with faculty, clinical staff and students eligible for the first vaccinations, the College moved closer to pre-pandemic operations, although some classes, many meetings and most seminars were still held virtually.  During the 2021-22 academic year, classes were held in-person (except on rare occasions), and in-person commencement ceremonies were held across the university.  Other activities – seminars, meetings, thesis defenses – were held in a mix of platforms including in-person, virtual and hybrid.  Currently, most faculty at the College are back to their offices, although many of us also work from home more frequently than in the past.  We anticipate that the trend towards more in-person activities will continue during the 2022-23 year.

The pandemic forced all of us to learn to fly by the seat of our pants and make adjustments on the fly.  I think the quality of education suffered, but only a little bit.  There was a least one benefit – we all learned to master Zoom!