Harold Jablon, D.M.D., oral history interview, audio |
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| Title | Harold Jablon, D.M.D., oral history interview, September 26, 2011 |
| Creator Name | Jablon, Harold |
| Contributor Name | Fox, Brooke;Susan Hoffius |
| Date | 2011-09-26 |
| Duration | 00:57:10 |
| Extent | 25 p. |
| Source | OH 5.1 |
| Subject.LCSH | Medical College of South Carolina (1952-1969);Medical University of South Carolina;Medical University of South Carolina. College of Dental Medicine;Dental students;Dental school--United States;Education, Dental--United States;Oral histories;Interviews;Jablon, Harold W.;Buhler, John;Fingar, Walter W.;McTeer, George C.;Owens, Cathy Moss |
| Description | Harold W. Jablon, DMD, was a student in the first graduating class of the College of Dental Medicine (CDM), 1971. In his interview Dr. Jablon covers a variety of topics, beginning with his education and how he became interested in dentistry. He recalls his reasons for applying to the CDM, as well as the application process itself. Dr. Jablon describes the first dean, Dr. John Buhler, and his personal involvement with students from the first class. In addition, Dr. Jablon identifies early faculty and their positions in the college. He talks about classroom and clinical experiences in the CMD’s temporary facilities in Colcock Hall. He goes on to discuss his experiences in the military, starting his own dental practice, and his involvement with professional dental associations such as the South Carolina Dental Association. Additional topics include changes in dental practice and education since 1967, and Dr. Jablon’s continued support of the CDM. |
| Digital Collection | MUSC College of Dental Medicine Oral History Project, 2011 |
| Website | http://digital.library.musc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/oh005 |
| Contributing Institution | Waring historical Library (MUSC) |
| Digitization Specifications | Audio recorded using a Marantz digital recorder. Archival masters are WAV files. |
| Date Digital | 2009-06-18 |
| Rights | Copyright is held the Waring Historical Library, MUSC. For more information, please contact the Waring Historical Library. |
| Access | Open to research. Use of materials is governed by Fair Use Guidelines. Use of material in excess of that permitted by Fair Use Guidelines requires written permission from the Waring Historical Library. Commercial use of tapes is governed by additional restrictions. Contact the repository for information. |
| Language | English |
| SC County | Charleston County (S.C.) |
| Media Type | Oral Histories;Manuscripts |
| Note | This interview is part of “The College of Dental Medicine Oral History Project” series. These interviews document the experiences of early students, faculty, and staff. Nine interviews were conducted between September 2011 and March 2012 in preparation for the College’s 50th anniversary. |
| Citation | The College of Dental Medicine Oral History Project, Waring Historical Library, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC. |
Description
| Title | Harold Jablon, D.M.D., oral history interview, audio |
| Duration | 00:57:10 |
| Type | audio/mpeg |
| Format | Sound |
| Media Type | Oral Histories |
| Resource Identifier | oh005_001_001 |
| Transcript | Brooke Fox: Dr. Jablon, I would like to start with basic background information, when and where you were born, where you went to school prior to coming to the College of Dental Medicine. Dr. Jablon: I was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina July 14, 1944. I went to grammar school and junior high and high school in Spartanburg then I went to Wofford College and finished Wofford in 1966 with a BS in chemistry and started dental school here in 1967 at the College of Dental Medicine and I was in the first graduating class. Fox: How did you decide to become a dentist? Dr. Jablon: Well, that goes back to when I was probably 13, 14 years old. From that time on I knew that my goal was to become a dentist. I had a dental appointment with Dr. Stinson who was our family dentist then and it was during the World Series time and I was his last appointment for the day. And he asked me -- he said, “Harold, do you want to go back to school or do you want to stay here and watch the baseball game with me?” And back then it was black and white TV so I said, sure, I'll stay and watch the game. So, we started talking and he showed me around and told me a lot about dentistry, and I always enjoyed working with people and working with my hands. I was making model planes and boats when I was five, six years old. So, from that time on, because of Dr. Stenson, I decided I wanted to become a dentist. So, I was fortunate when I was 12, 13 years old. I knew I wanted to become a dentist. I mean there's so many kids now, they finish school and they still don't know what they want to do so I was very, very fortunate in that aspect. And so that was my goal from the time I was 12, 13 years old. Fox: How did you decide upon the Medical College [of South Carolina]? Dr. Jablon: Well, I knew the State of South Carolina was starting a new dental school because we had no dental school at the time. The students from South Carolina either went to University of Virginia -- Medical College of Virginia in Richmond -- or University of Louisville in Kentucky. And they had a quota, so to speak, and they just took several students from the state each year. I did apply there. I did well there, but I knew -- I thought… [Loud noise] Fox: Sorry, sorry. Dr. Jablon: I thought it would be intriguing to be part of the new school because I love South Carolina. I had some dialogue with Dr. [John E.] Buhler, who was our first dean of the dental school. I also had some dialogue with Ike McClese, who was Senator Hollings' chief of staff, I believe, in Spartanburg at the time. So, I met with him. I met with Senator Hollings. Of course, I had a lot of dialogue and met with Dr. Buhler and I felt like I wanted to be a part of the new school. So, that's why I decided to hold off a year and come down here to Charleston to be a part of the new school. Fox: What do recall about the application process? Did you have to be interviewed? What was involved with that? Dr. Jablon: Well, we had to -- of course, like it is now. You had to take what's called a Dental Aptitude Test; called the DAT. And then, of course, you had to apply. What the application entailed I don't remember because it was so long ago, but we did have to apply. We did have to go through an interview process. We did have to have letter of recommendations from some instructors from college, and there was Wofford College in my case, and some personal letters of recommendation. But I do remember the DAT at that time. Now everything's computerized with the three dimensional objects and depth perception and stuff. We had to take a piece of chalk and carve dimensions on one end -- both ends like a triangle, a sphere and a little circle and there were some poor guys back then dropping their piece of chalk and breaking it because they -- I think that was -- after a couple of years they eliminated that, but that was an interesting part of the application process, taking the DAT. So, as they do now, they put a lot of weight on your Dental Aptitude Test because that does, in back then and still gives them an indication how the applicant can handle the dental school curriculum. Fox: Describe, if you can recall, your first day of class or when you first came to campus and all the new students. Were you all in one class together? Dr. Jablon: We were all in class together. We started off with a small class. We had 24 in my class. We ended up with either 17 or 19. I don't remember, but it was a congenial group and because we had a few socials when we started, everybody getting to know each other. Most of us were probably recent graduates. Well, in my case, I was a year after graduation. We did have a couple of classmates that were probably in their early 30's who had been out of school for several years, but decided they wanted to go into dentistry for various reasons. So, we had a good group and, of course, we worked very hard. And it wasn't long after that that we started basically all socializing together when we had time because we were a small group. And I'm sure we'll get into our relationship with the medical school class. I won't comment on that now, but we were involved with them also. But our instructors, Dr. Buhler, who came from Emory, he was on board probably a couple of years before the doors opened for the school to get things ready. He did a wonderful job at Emory. He did a fabulous job here at MUSC because we had a tremendous education. Will we get into that later or should I comment on that now? The education we received back then -- I don't recall what the student/faculty ratio was, but it was pretty small. We had a lot of retired military people on the faculty, Dr. [Walter A.] Hall [Jr.] was one. He was in the Navy. He was head of prosthetics. Dr. [Walter] Fingar was in the operative department. He ended up being dean of the dental school several years later. Dr. [Herbert C.] Butts, who was head of operative. We got a wonderful hands-on education, a lot of individual attention -- Dr. [Charles J.] King, crown and bridge -- because when I finished school I was stationed in the Navy at a naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida for two years. And we had 17 dentists there and their training ranged from Harvard to Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, and I did not feel inferior to any of them. As a matter of fact, I felt like our training was superior to the clinical training that they had so I felt very, very good about that. And, of course, we still put out a top-notch trained dentist. The training here has never wavered. We've always been up near the top in the national board exams and our clinical training here is second to none. Fox: So, your class size was small enough that you actually all went from one class to the next. You weren't divided up in half to make it manageable? Dr. Jablon: No, we were all in the same class, but one thing I mentioned we'd get into. Our dental classes, like, freshman year, like, dental anatomy where we had to carve teeth, prosthetics where we started to learn how to set up denture teeth, and things of that nature we were -- as our dental school class. We did not have the Basic Science Building back then and that was not finished until my senior year -- the fall of 1970. We had our classes like gross anatomy and microbiology, biochemistry, embryology all with the medical students in their classrooms because we did not have the faculty to accommodate that at that time. I know, because, like I say, our dental courses were just us, but the basic sciences that I mentioned were all with the medical students. So, we were sort of a pioneer, so to speak. When in our classes with the medical students we did intermingle with the medical students and, of course, like, from year to year and within the schools, you know, exams and stuff -- copies of them were handed down so you could study with them. And these were all with the medical students. We felt like a pioneer in the dental school part of it because there was no precedence set. We were the ones who set the precedent and I feel like, in many ways, we were the pioneers and paved the way for what transpired after our class. Susan Hoffius: At the time did your class have that sense of being the first and being -- needing to set the bar high? Dr. Jablon: Absolutely. We were very proud of ourselves and then, I guess I really don't mind saying it was a select group being the first class and I've got fond memories of all my classmates and we had a good time. We worked hard together. There was really never any sense of competition between the classmates. We were working together for a goal and that's establishing a precedent of what would go on beyond us. And I remember when I was asked several years ago to give a convocation talk for the dental school and one thing I remember I said. I told the students -- I said, your friends that you met here in dental school will be friends for life, that you'll never lose them. I said I know because I've tried, [laughs] just in joking, but I was still -- the ones who live in this area and South Carolina -- usually they show up at the alumni functions and so we're still in touch with the classmates and it's kind of neat. Hoffius: Did you live on campus or did you live off campus? Dr. Jablon: My freshman year we lived in what was called the Alumni House, which is now where the Harper Wellness Center sits. And most of the medical and dental students -- the freshman, unless they were married -- lived at the Alumni House. My sophomore year I lived with two medical students and I keep in touch with them. My junior year I lived with another dental student, Joe Webb, who is just recently retired. He's probably one of the classmates who we were proudest of. He retired as a two-star general -- major general -- he was the head of the Army Medical Dental Corps and he actually -- when the surgeon general was ill for a while -- for six months he was surgeon general of the United States and we still keep in touch and have a good time together. And then between my junior and senior year I got married so, of course, I lived with my wife my senior year. Fox: Can you describe living in the Alumni House briefly? Dr. Jablon: It was a small room. My roommate my freshman year was another dental student, Johnny McLaurinn, and unfortunately, he didn't make it past the freshman year. I guess he was too intrigued with the social life in Charleston rather than doing the work and so, but we did study a lot at the Alumni House. We had a library -- nothing, you know, not like what we have now, but we did go over to the dental school and study some, but mostly we studied at the Alumni House in our rooms there. And it was, like, one bathroom on every floor where everybody showered and cleaned up and it was -- it was interesting. It was quite an experience -- a memorable experience. Fox: I'd like to switch gears a little bit and focus on the early deans. Dr. Buhler, he was the dean when you began the program. Dr. Jablon: When I started, yes. Fox: And then he left in May of 1971 -- he resigned. Dr. Jablon: Yes, he was with us the whole four years. And, of course, he was there a couple years prior to opening the doors. He did a fabulous job. He was very close to all of us. As a matter of fact, I remember going over to his house. And he would have the class over for lunch or dinner and I remember he had a greenhouse. He grew plants and stuff and he gave me an Easter cactus, I think, right before graduation. And I still have it. I mean it's huge now. And something -- every time I look at it I think about Dr. Buhler, may he rest in peace. And he was a pretty stern fellow. He didn't tolerate a lot of nonsense, so to speak, but it was well worth it. It paid off. We knew where he was coming from and, I believe, Dr. Hall was the assistant dean, but he was also head of the prosthetics department. And he was a retired Navy captain and this was right at the height of Vietnam. Should I mention something? Hoffius: Yes. Dr. Jablon: Back then you had the draft. And I had a student deferment at Wofford and then when I went to graduate school for a year before dental school started at Carolina in chemistry, I had another student deferment there. Well, a couple of months into my first year here in dental school I got a letter from the draft board that they wanted me to come up to Fort Jackson for a physical. So -- which I did, but I had talked to Dr. Hall and we had nobody in any of the military programs in the dental school and the Navy had program called the Ensign 1925 program. I had some dialogue with Dr. Hall and he felt like I should apply for that. So, I applied for that and got a few more letters from the draft board and that was a pretty bad experience going up to Fort Jackson to have a physical with all the recruits up there. So, I came back and still more dialogue with the draft board. It looked like they were going to draft me out of dental school. But then I got my commission from the Navy one day and I was much relieved after that. Well, the next day I got a letter from the draft board. They granted me another student deferment, but I wrote them back and told them I did not need it anymore because I was commissioned as an officer in the Navy in which Dr. Hall was very proud of. And they made a big deal out of them. They took me to the Navy base and the media took some pictures of it. But after that -- back then, I guess, our sideburns were a little bit longer, but Dr. Hall called me in his office a few times and told me, “Harold, you need to shorten those sideburns a little bit.” And, I think, one time I maybe said something I shouldn't have. I remember I said, Dr. Hall, I'm not in the Navy yet. So, he didn't like that answer too much, [laughter] but we got along well and we had some wonderful faculty members and we did get along with them well. And if we had some socials, some of them would come because we were very, very close with the faculty. I remember Dr. [William George] Smith [Jr.], Dr. King, Dr. [James R.] Schmidt, who came down from medical dental school in New Jersey. He was in the crown and bridge department, also. But I remember we had wonderful training. We had wonderful faculty. Hoffius: So when you signed up for the Ensign 1925 program, that essentially deferred your military service until you finished dental school. Dr. Jablon: Until after I got out of dental school. Hoffius: And then you had a military commitment that you had to fulfill. Dr. Jablon: Right, yes, for two years so it meant that as soon as I graduated in June, I reported to the naval air station in July, so I had a month off. But it didn't -- which was wonderful training and we had, like I mentioned, about 17 dentists there and we rotated for six months on crown and bridge, endodontics, periodontics and oral surgery so it was wonderful training and I'm so glad that I did it. Between my sophomore and junior year in dental school I had to go to Newport, Rhode Island for what they called officer indoctrination school and that was enjoyable. We had lunch at the officers club every day there so I gained about 15 pounds. That's the heaviest I've ever been and between my sophomore and junior year is when I met my wife at a wedding in Jacksonville, Florida and all my classmates still kid me. We had three dates and we were engaged and then she moved to Charleston in January so we could kind of get to know each other before we got married. But here is 41 years later and she is just as passionate about MUSC as I am, which makes it easier for the things that we do for the school because she loves the school like I do. And my son went to school here also. He is a retinal surgeon here in Charleston. He went to medical school here and did his ophthalmology residency here so we've got a dear attraction to MUSC for a number of reasons. Fox: Did you have an adviser? Were you assigned an adviser when you became a student -- have someone to kind of mentor you? Dr. Jablon: Yes, that makes sense. To be honest with you, because, like I say, it was 44 years ago. I don't think we had a specific adviser, but it seems like every faculty member was an adviser and… Hoffius: Who would you say had the most influence or exerted the most influence on you as… Dr. Jablon: Probably -- well, a couple of them -- Dr. [Walter W.] Fingar who was in the operative department and he ended up becoming dean of the school for four or five years. I think he followed Dr. Hastings. I'm not sure. And, of course, Dr. [Charles J.] King, who was the head of the crown and bridge department and Dr. [John W.] Corcoran, also, he was head of the pediatric dentistry department and I still keep in touch with Dr. Corcoran. I am probably going name all of them. Hoffius: Well, what about them? I mean what -- the first person you mentioned what about him did you admire or did he -- if he had an influence on you what about that? Dr. Jablon: Well, Dr. Fingar just -- and, I guess some of them took special liking to all of us, some of them in particular, but it seemed like Dr. Fingar spent a lot of personal time with me in the clinic, making sure everything was just right and he was just genuinely concerned and interested, not only in me, but, I think, all our classmates. I think we all fell in love in with Dr. Fingar. Hoffius: Do you think the faculty also felt that sense of responsibility? You talked about how the students felt a sense of pride and responsibility in being the first class. Would you say that the faculty felt that same responsibility and pride? Dr. Jablon: Oh, I think so. And they were probably the ones who instilled it in us, I guess, kind of like a football coach getting the team fired up. I mean they got us all fired up and made everything exciting for us and Dr. [William George] Smith [Jr.] he was in removable prosthetics, I believe. And he was an older fellow when he came here, but he was probably like a father figure to all of us and he would -- nobody hesitated to pull him to the side and talk with him and ask him for advice and guidance. We just had an outstanding faculty that related to all of us and, I guess, they, in recruiting the faculty, they kept that in mind that we were a new school, a first class and they probably interviewed the faculty stronger than they interviewed our classmates because, I think, they knew, particularly, Dr. Buhler, knew what it took to relate to the students and, I mean, they just did an outstanding job with that -- recruiting the faculty and I guess, I don't mind saying the class, also. So, it was pretty much a fabulous, synergism, in fact, everybody fed off of everybody. And everybody helped everybody. We also had part-time faculty from the local dental community. Two that I particularly remember was Dr. Jackson, pediatric dentist, and Dr. Buddy Hinnant in endodontics. He was both a mentor and a friend and we still keep in touch. Like, as I mentioned before, it wasn't a competitive situation where this person tried to do better than the next one. We all helped everybody out. And it was a wonderful relationship. Fox: So, after your first year, when the next class came in, did your class kind of take the new students under its wings? Dr. Jablon: Under our wings. We sure did. And, as a matter of fact, I remember -- of course, I think Dan Sneed and -- I'm drawing a blank -- Dan and Eddie Collins and -- they were in the class behind us and we had a lot of good poop to give them, to tell them what to expect and we kind of took them under our wings, also. But I remember my senior year when Irene and I lived at Riverbends apartment and there were four dental students that lived under -- downstairs from us. One of them in particular, Phil Smith, who's been very involved in organizing dentistry in the state and done a lot for dentistry. As a matter of fact, his son, oldest son, just graduated from dental school last year. They would come upstairs all the time and say, “Harold, can you help me with this?” And because we didn't mind at all, helping them and -- because it was like I say, with the medical school, which was established in 1824, you know, here and they had a lot of classes in front of them and behind them, so to speak. Well, whatever you want to say. So they had some history and they knew sort of what to expect because -- numerous classes ahead of them. Dental school it wasn't so because the first four years -- we started our freshman year, then sophomore, junior and senior. So, every year there was a class behind us and, like I mentioned before, we felt like we were paving the way so the incoming classes they fed off of us and we helped them. Of course, then the incoming say freshman classes looked to the sophomore class ahead of them. The classes behind us had nobody to look to except us. So, it was a neat situation. We felt, like I mentioned before, very proud of ourselves and, I think, rightfully so. Fox: As you progressed through the program, were there changes made every year that you were aware of when the new class came in? That they [the faculty] had realized something didn't quite work and the new class -- or they still just kind of -- it was just an experimental… Dr. Jablon: That's a good question. I think I understand that. They changed some of the curriculum or the teaching aspect of it. I don't know. I'd probably say probably not. They probably didn't do a lot of changes because everything was really, you start off with the basics and, I think, probably in the mid-70's we started seeing a lot of change in dentistry. And that's when some of the teaching techniques had to change with more cosmetic dentistry, bonding with new composites and new materials. See back then, we didn't -- there was not a whole lot of research in dental materials and then shortly after we left, like, I'd say, we finished in 1971, but in the mid-70's that's when new products -- new materials and some new techniques started evolving. You know, implant dentistry started evolving then so we didn't have that part in our curriculum. But, yes, the curriculum did change, but it evolved with the change in dentistry. And MUSC was on the forefront of all that. Fox: Describe the impact the dental school had on campus. Did you notice, was there an impact? Dr. Jablon: Well, we were well received. Like I mentioned, we did a lot of socializing with the medical students. We did not have dental fraternities then. The medical school did and we were welcomed into some of the medical fraternities to join them to party with them so to speak. The first couple of years there was not much partying going on because we worked so very, very hard. But then when we got in the clinic we started getting a little free time and junior and senior year so we had a lot of socializing. Well, I remember every year the -- and I don't know if they still have it -- Alhambra weekend. But that was a big deal and we had our own dental school softball team and played against the medical school and we were well received and, I think, well respected. We had some good students so we -- and the classes we had together with the medical students like gross anatomy, biochemistry, embryology, neuroanatomy and all those we were well received. We made the dean proud of us the way we achieved in those classes. I wouldn't say competing with the medical school, but having the classes with the medical students we did just as well as they did. Fox: Can you describe graduation? Was there a big to-do as the first class that graduated? Dr. Jablon: I'm might get tears in my eyes thinking about that. It was a very festive weekend. We had -- I remember a party for everybody at the dean's house. You know, parents came. Of course, I don't think too many of us still have our parents with us -- the ones who graduated then, but they were proud of us and our accomplishments. Hoffius: That's okay. Dr. Jablon: They were very, very proud of us, the classmates, and it was just a wonderful weekend. It was truly a milestone to be part of history in the first graduating class. Fox: And you did graduate with the larger… Dr. Jablon: Yes, we were with -- same as it is now. We had our own section. We had our own robes and, I think, the whole community was just extremely proud of the seniors who were graduating, for what we had done. Fox: I read that you have received the South Carolina Society of Dentistry for Children Award at graduation. Dr. Jablon: That kind of caught me by surprise. We were just sitting there and I totally did not expect that. And I was sitting there and then they call my name out and, like I mentioned before, Dr. Corcoran was head of the pediatric dentistry department and I really -- I enjoyed treating kids. I always enjoyed being with kids when I was in high school and college. I was a counselor at Camp Skyuka -- the Spartanburg YMCA camp -- so I always enjoyed working with kids and enjoyed working on the children here in dental school. I can remember the first time I had a pulp exposure (nerve) doing operative on a pediatric patient. I was so upset and Dr. Jackson, a pediatric dentist in Charleston who taught part-time, came over and rescued me and settled me down. He said “Don't worry, we'll just get the calcium hydroxide out and do a little pulp cap on it and everything will be fine. I thoroughly enjoyed working on children while in school. I still do. As a matter of fact I'm -- even though I'm sort of retired. I sold my practice ten years ago. I'm working two days a week at a children's clinic in Columbia and still enjoy that and started to go into pediatric dentistry, but after two years in the Navy I was ready to go into private practice, which I did. I went to Columbia and I was in private practice for 35 years and sold my practice to a young lady who actually graduated from MUSC also. She was well trained. But I remember rarely did I refer a child patient out during my practice because I enjoyed treating them and you've got to have a lot of patience to do that, but I was proud of that award. I still have the plaque. I've got a room in the house which we set aside for sort of my study and I've got that plaque hanging up on the wall, which I'm very, very proud of. Thanks for mentioning that. I almost forgot about it. Fox: While you were in dental school the first African American student… Dr. Jablon: George McTeer. Fox: He came aboard and then the first female, Cathy Moss… Dr. Jablon: Yes, right, yes. Fox: Can you describe -- was there any… Dr. Jablon: Oh, there was no -- I mean they were well received. We all enjoyed meeting George, like any other student. We took him under our wings and -- I don't remember a lot about him. I think he was a freshman when I was a senior. And, I think, Cathy was probably a sophomore when I was a senior. I mean now we've got over 50 percent of the class is female. And because we're pushing for diversity, we're trying to recruit good students and, I think, we've got a great mix. And from what I remember about George and Cathy they were good students. They got along well with everybody. They were well received and we treated them just like one of our classmates and got along very, very well together. And, I think, they were pioneers in their way; in the way my whole class was when we started. Hoffius: When you started your practice in Columbia did you buy into a practice or did you start your practice from scratch? Dr. Jablon: What I did -- when I was in graduate school at South Carolina I was an avid four-wall handball player. And, fortunately, I still play handball three or four times a week. And I met a fellow, Carl Freedman, at the YMCA and he was playing handball. And we started playing together, became good friends. I told him I was going to dental school -- he was a dentist. So, we kept in touch with each other and he came down here several times during dental school. And then when I was in the Navy in Jacksonville, Florida he came down to visit with us. And he talked me into coming back to Columbia and going into practice with him. My choice was either -- I was thinking about going back to Spartanburg where I grew up, but Carl made it seem very interesting going back to Columbia. I had friends in Columbia from youth groups and stuff so we decided to go back to Columbia. Went into practice with Carl, actually, worked for him on a percentage basis back then. I stayed with him for about two and a half years and then bought some land, built an office. I was in private practice for 35 years and then sold my practice to Mary Gandhi [sp] is her married name now – Mary Murdock -- she's from Lancaster. I'll think of her maiden name. But I stayed with Mary for five years after she bought the practice, longer than I expected to. So, after five years I realized she was ready to be a solo practitioner who wanted to feel more like it was her practice rather than mine. As long as I was there the patients, they'd known me for 35 years and I was seeing third generations. I saw little kids when I first went into practice. If they liked me the parents came and then 20 years later low and behold little three- and four-year-old kids I was seeing their kids. So, I was seeing third generations and I still run into a lot of them in the grocery stores on some errand that may take 15, 20 minutes. An hour later I'll come back and Irene'll say, “what took you so long.” I'll say well I ran into so and so and we were catching up because they knew our kids, the history of them growing up and I knew -- and it was like a big family and it was -- I feel very blessed being able to practice so long. And thank God, I have good health and still enjoy dentistry. So, that's why I'm practicing two days a week, like I say, at a children's clinic. Actually, I'm working for Robert Ellis who graduated from MUSC in the mid-90's, I believe. And I remember Robert when he was, like, four years old. I carpooled him with my son to nursery school. So, we kind of joke a little bit now, you know, I carpooled him when he went in nursery school and now he's my boss. I'm working for him. Hoffius: That's how it goes. Dr. Jablon: But he just really appreciates what I do for him and it's not like a boss/employee relationship. But I kid him about that. So, that goes back a ways. That's a little bit of history relating to the school. Hoffius: Were you involved in what would be considered organized dental medicine in the state? Dr. Jablon: Yes, dentistry, yes. I was… Hoffius: Can you talk about that? Dr. Jablon: Yes. Shortly after I got back to Columbia I got involved in organized dentistry -- serving on committees for the state association and local -- Greater Columbia Dental Association and ended up being president of the Greater Columbia Dental Association, which I was proud of. I'm still involved with the South Carolina Dental Association and committees and do whatever I can. I didn't serve in administrative capacities with that, but our school -- I mean, seemed like early on I remember Chuck Hanna, Terry Kunkle, they were presidents of the SCDA, probably ten years after graduating from dental school. So, our graduates have always been involved with organized dentistry. And, as a matter of fact, we've got a mentoring program through the SCDA, which lots of graduates know the importance of staying in organized dentistry. I still try and stay involved with it, serving on committees. You probably want me to talk a little about being involved in MUSC. Hoffius: Sure. Dr. Jablon: It probably took me four or five years to realize what I owed the school for what they did for me -- for giving me the opportunity to do what I do and love and enjoy. But it probably took me four or five years to realize I need to give back to the school in any way I could. So, I got involved with, I think, first the alumni association. And Betsy Waters was head of the alumni association then. So, I got involved in that and, I think, a few years later I was actually helping her organize the dental school alumni association, but several years later I ended up being president of the Medical University Alumni Association. That was, I think, in the early 80's and then it was probably early 90's, maybe mid-90's, Betsy approached me and said, “Harold, I would like for you to be president of the Medical University Alumni Association.” I said, Betsy, I've done that before. She said “I know, but we want you to do it again.” [Laughter] So, of course, it was my pleasure and then I became involved in different committees. I remember the second time I was president of the alumni association I had to give a speech welcoming the graduates to the alumni association as alumni and it was -- maybe I shouldn't even say this, but I have -- I can go to sleep anywhere and -- I'm staying awake here -- but it was raining so it was inside at The Citadel Armory and it was kind of warm. So, I'm sitting up there on the stage and my wife and son are in the audience and I'm kind of bobbing and weaving a little bit and then, fortunately, not during -- when they called me up, but afterwards my wife said, “Harold, were you up there sleeping?” [Laughter] I said, Irene, no. I was just looking down at my notes and I was. And then fortunately, it's like a dream come true. I was appointed to the board of trustees here last year so I was up on the stage at graduation this -- 2011, but… Hoffius: Stayed awake. [Laughter] Dr. Jablon: I had no trouble staying awake with that. It was outside, but my involvement in the school has just been an absolute pleasure for me doing whatever I can for the school because they did so much for me. And then, more recently, for my son, and being involved in Dr. Greenberg's Campaign of Promise, and I actually started a reunion gift program for the dental school. And that was after our 25th reunion, which was 1996. And what we did with that -- got the idea let's have a fundraiser with our class, which we did. And we raised a good bit of money that first time so that's been an ongoing thing. Every class that has a 25th reunion, they have major fundraising so that's -- that's really -- I mean, brought in a lot of funds for the school. And, of course, with budget cuts now we need it more than ever. But that's something I was proud of starting because that caught on as being an ongoing thing. That's been very beneficial for the dental school. That's totally for the dental school. Hoffius: I want to go back to something you said earlier about how the students now know -- you said that they know the importance of being involved in organized dentistry. What do you think is important about being involved in organized dentistry? Dr. Jablon: Well, if, there's so much -- I think the main thing is there's so much government regulation in everything. And if we don't stay on top of it and kind of govern ourselves and do what's best for the public that we serve, somebody else is going to do it for us. So, it's better that we do it for ourselves and stay a strong association like the SCDA [South Carolina Dental Association] and American Dental Association. I think we're a model for doing what's right and doing what's right for the general public. Because I remember when PPO's started, back probably in the late 80's. Blue Cross Blue Shield tried to ram it down our throat, so to speak. But we, as organized dentistry, resisted it and instead of them coming to us and telling us this is the way you're going to do it, they saw that wasn't going to work so they came to us and said, let's do it together. So, if we stay involved in organized dentistry and, as a group, we'll always do what's best for organized dentistry, for the public that we serve. So, I think that that's the main key to being involved in organized dentistry. And we put on a social for the senior students every year -- the state dental association and, you know, we come in the school a couple times a year and do a seminar, do a lecture, so to speak, so they kind of get their feet wet, so to speak, and see what we're doing as a dental association. And they can see that it's best to stay involved in organized dentistry so we can control our own destiny, so to speak because there's so much going on at the state house all the time and we have to be involved. Hoffius: In any given general assembly year do you have a lot of issues that you're working on or is it different areas? Dr. Jablon: Oh, yes, well some dental hygiene issues -- all the organizations coming in from out of state and trying to do some things that should just be done by a trained dentist, so to speak. You know, I won't get into some of those issues, but we've got a strong lobby at the state house, which is an extension of the South Carolina Dental Association so we're on top of everything. And if we did not exist as an organization in lobbying at the state house, we would not be able to practice the way we want to, the way we enjoy and have some of the freedoms of practicing the way we're are accustom to practice dentistry. Hoffius: Good, thank you. And the students hear that and… Dr. Jablon: Oh, they see it, they accept it, they appreciate what we do coming into the school and the majority of them end up being involved in organized dentistry. And we've got a lot of children of dentists who have been involved in organized dentistry, like Terry Kunkle’s son's a dentist, Phil Smith is so involved in organized dentistry. His son just graduated so that things like that may be a key to having more students involved also. Well, the students of parents who were so involved in organized dentistry. It's kind of a trickledown effect, so to speak. So, we've got to get -- we've got a wonderful relationship with the College of Dental Medicine. We're trying to fully fund an endowed chair through the South Carolina Dental Association so we've got a wonderful relationship with the school, the dean, and the faculty. It's neat. Fox: I'm finished with my specific questions, but is there anything that we have not covered that you -- when we asked you to participate in this if there's something you really wanted to talk about. Dr. Jablon: Yes, there was something I was going to mention. We mentioned the Basic Science Building. Well, when -- you know it goes back to history. When we started our classes -- the dental classes were in Colcock Hall, which is now the administrative building. And it is, oh, my God, it is so much nicer now than when we went in there. I remember upstairs we had our crown and bridge and prosthetics lab and a classroom. Downstairs we had a few classrooms. Upstairs on the far left corner was one room that had one chair with one X-ray head. And where we did our clinical training was next door in a building called -- we called it the tin can. I mean it was like a modular building. We probably had, I don't know, ten or 12 chairs. And I'll get into the new building in a minute. So, it was -- we did have high speed driven hand pieces. We didn't start our training with belt driven hand pieces, but when I took the Florida boards, when I was in the Navy, we had to do it with belt driven hand pieces and the first time I had ever used a belt driven hand pieces. And my wife was my patient then. She still reminds of that, but when we had to do our endodontic training clinically in the tin can, so to speak, we had no X-ray head there. We had to take the patient out the door, up the outside stairway to the top floor to take an X-ray. And this patient would walk in the outside, and sometimes it was raining, with a rubber dam in their mouth and take the X-ray and then have to take them back downstairs. And because this went on -- in my junior year we got in the clinic. Now, they're getting in the clinic, of course, with a high tech training with the manikins and stuff, so, in their sophomore year or something. But it was our junior year before we got in the clinic. Then our senior year we finally got in the new Basic Science building. Excuse me. And that was, like, oh, my God, this is, like, you know, heaven here. I mean the facilities -- and it was state of the art at the time. And we were so happy to be in there. We actually had a dental lab where we could do our laboratory work and wax and cast for our prosthetics and we had a couple of dental laboratory technicians up there that actually trained us some. And we got along very well with them and they were very helpful to the students, but it was unbelievable getting in the new Basic Science building. And then as the years went on, we saw how that was getting outdated so, I think, neighboring states, like, Georgia and North Carolina until we got our new clinical facility they had probably 140 square feet per student. We had about 40 square feet per student. Now we've got about 140, 150 square feet per student, but, I mean, this new building is, like, I've seen it evolve from the ground floor up. They even took me through hardhat tours a few times and, I mean, it's the finest clinical facility in the country and -- I forgot where I was making a little talk to some of the students. But I told them I really would love to be a student again and be in the new building. But, like I mentioned earlier, my classmates and myself we felt like pioneers. We were pioneers. We paved the way. We set the precedent, but now to see how far we have come from the tin can building and walking to Colcock Hall, to take X-rays -- to see what we have now it's just absolutely incredible. Hoffius: What are your thoughts about the -- in the last year the matriculating class numbers have gone from, I think it was about 55 to… Dr. Jablon: Yes, 56 to 70 or 54 to 70. We have -- of course, now we have the space. We have the facilities and, I think, we're seeing dentistry go full circle. And by that I mean, when I went into practice we had a shortage of dentists and you could almost go out and open up an office on any street corner, so to speak, and be successful right away. Then we had sort of a capitation program where the federal government would -- gave the school so much money for every student that we had in school. So, we increased the size even though -- and all the schools did -- even though the supply and demand, as it -- the graduates increase might not have been there. But now we’re seeing more dentists retire than we're putting out graduates. So, it's running kind of full circle and the graduates up until say four or five years ago would almost have to go into practice with somebody. Now, we're starting to see that the opportunity is there to go into private practice by yourself because we're in -- what we're getting at we do need the increase in the dental school graduates now because the dentist population ratio is decreasing because we're having more dentists, kind of like myself, retiring than we're putting graduates out. But, also, I think six of those slots are dedicated to out of state students and the reason for that -- and one reason for that is they pay a higher tuition, with budget cuts, we need the extra money that it generates for the school. State support for the budget at MUSC is now 5.6 %. Ten years ago it was 80%. We might as well be a private institution now. It is incredible how we are doing more for less now under Dr. Greenberg’s leadership. It is also interesting to note that we have had some great deans of the College of Dental Medicine over the years. Dr. Sanders, our current dean, had the highest rating of any dean at MUSC last year and we are very proud of him. We have got a bright future at the College of Dental Medicine and have a nationally respected program that is greatly admired and facilities that are second to none. We’ve come a long way since 1967. |
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