Dr . Oleski flanked by her daughters , Rachel , on the left , and Julia on the right .
also presented to me the difficulties of working outside of my private office . The socioeconomic , financial , physical and psychological complexities of this population , as well as the limitations due to Medicaid restrictions , made this a challenging part of my career in dentistry . I am grateful for the time I spent there helping all that I could with what I was given to provide . This experience led me to become more active in organized dentistry . I saw the help that the Scranton District Dental Society , Third District , PDA and ADA , could provide . I also saw flaws in the workforce model and wanted to become an active participant in helping to craft the future of our profession .
Both daughters followed my path to professional school via the University of Scranton . Julia is currently enrolled in the School of Veterinary Medicine at St . George ’ s University in Grenada . She has always had a tremendous love for animals and chose veterinary medicine very early in life . I think it ’ s a family trait … we wait until the ripe age of four to decide which career path we are going to pursue . Rachel is at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine . This was not an unexpected choice either . Rachel loved to tinker in the lab and play with stone and wax at a very young age .
I will say it a second time . I was lucky . I could achieve my plan of a private dental practice within a few years of graduation . My debts from my education and practice start-up were large , but it was manageable to chip away at those balances , and over time they became a thing of the past . My practice is 24 years old , and I have been a sole proprietor for all of them .
My practice is what I want it to be . I have a fee for service practice in Scranton . My staff is fabulous and they have been with me for many years . My hygienist is with me almost 20 years and I have known my office manager for at least that long . Many of my current patients have been with me from the start . It ’ s an honor to be treating the second and now third generation of patients . To think of that young naïve girl that went to Philadelphia now seems a lifetime away , but also feels like it passed in the blink of an eye .
COVID-19 changed all of our lives and practices . Julia had to be chartered home from Grenada , and Rachel graduated virtually from college . Both began a primarily , or in Julia ’ s case entirely , online graduate education . Neither has had the opportunity to have their pores and sinuses filled with the smell of formalin from dissection lab . Julia and Rachel have spent the majority of their professional learning in the confines of their own four walls . Friendships that had been my support have been missing . Rachel has yet to meet her class in full in person . Only recently this has started to change . Both daughters will be in school in person this fall . Hopefully they will finally begin to enjoy the process .
Rachel has been participating in far more dental assisting in dental school than I ever did . She is also required to learn an EMR , which was something I was exposed to only after my education . We still had paper charts . She will also have a much greater grasp of the technologies of dentistry which will be something she will educate me on . With all
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 23