The Doctor’s Bag

Dr. Louis Kaufman

I am accompanying my dad to St. Bernard’s Hospital on the South Side of Chicago. My father was coming to St. Bernard’s to do an immediate denture delivery. In those days, if a patient wanted to be sedated, it was typically done in a hospital setting.

He parked his huge Fleetwood Cadillac. He fetched this brown alligator-looking bag with a brass clasp out of the trunk. Years later, I found the bag buried in a downstairs closet in my parents’ home. I had already become a dentist, and I decided I would use it. I would pack the bag with cotton rolls, cement spatulas, IRM, and even anesthetic. Of course, I had some dental instruments and anesthetic. For the sometime family member or friend and the patient from the northside of the city, I would rebond a temporary or another restoration. The bag finally fell apart after another 25-plus years of being cared for. It was rarely taken out. It represented another era in dentistry, which I felt attached to.

This was to be my first encounter with nuns. We approached the towering front door, where we were met by a nun. We were escorted up what seemed like the longest and highest staircase. Everything was white polished marble with elaborate designs. Everything was white, including the nun. The nun took dad’s bag and handed it to another. The instruments had already been sterilized back at the office.

The nun brought us towards these massive white doors. As we passed through the archway, my dad said, “Stay with the nuns. I will be back.” The nun pointed at me and said, “You come with me.” She took me to a room and told me to wait here and not get into trouble or touch anything. I found a spot on the floor, sat, and waited for what seemed like forever. Truthfully, she scared me. Looking back, this fear came from the stories I had heard of getting beaten with a ruler. Reflecting on this years later, I think this was the first time I saw my dad as someone else. I thought of him as a doctor. Often, as Dentists, we are not seen as real doctors, sometimes by patients, friends, and even family. I was guilty of it with my own father.

I initially didn’t follow in my dad’s footsteps; it was my second career after college. I changed careers at the age of 27, let’s back up. I graduated from undergrad with a BA in business and then went on to get an MBA in Executive Management. I had put myself on a path to learn the fast-food business and then buy my own franchise and build it. After three and a half years of horrible hours and poor pay, I realized that the restaurant business is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to greatly impact people’s lives. Make a real difference. I spoke to medical doctors and thoracic surgeons. When I did the math of when I would be done, I decided to speak to every dentist I knew other than my father.

I was told by these doctors you have a couple of choice: become a specialist, or become a general dentist and go into business with your dad. I chose the latter. But there was something I had to overcome. I had a BA, and I needed the sciences. I had to go back to undergrad and take all the minimal requirements to apply to dental school and take the DAT. In one year, I was able to complete all my requirements by attending a community college and a university. I took a course to study for the DAT. I passed on my first try and applied to all the local schools in Illinois. Accepted to every school I applied to and elected to attend the University of Illinois College of Dentistry.

I entered the class of 1994, but I didn’t graduate until May of 1995. In the late winter months of that first year, I remember it was mid-morning on the way to the lecture hall from the lab benches. Dr. Donald Rice, the dental student body Dean, approached me. He said, “Kaufman, I need you to come with me.” I thought he was seeking me out for some student government issue. We took the elevator in silence back to the first floor. We walked to his office, and then he stopped. “Kaufman, you’re here with me to attend a department head meeting that will determine your future in attending dental school. You will sit next to me, and they are waiting for us behind this door.” My heart and soul sank to the floor, my head started to spin for a minute. I knew I had to compose myself and listen. Dr. Rice pushed the door open.

There was chatter going on in the room as we entered. Heads turned in our direction. Silence slowly fell over the room. We sat down at the end of one of the largest oval conference tables I have ever seen. Dr. Rice began the meeting by explaining again that the reason I am here is to listen first to what the department heads have to say. I would have time at the end to respond. One by one, they went. Each sharing their feedback on my performance thus far. The feedback was constructive and insightful. I listened closely to each and every one. There was nothing negative shared, it was transparent, honest constructive feedback. At the end of this, Dr. Rice asked if I had anything I wanted to contribute. I gathered my thoughts. Because I knew I had only this chance at getting a second chance at dental school.

I shared with the group my career change. My first degree was a BA in Business and then an MBA in Executive Management. I spent four years in the fast-food industry. Then, a year of obtaining all the sciences required for entering dental school and taking the DAT. I knew entering Dental School, I was going to struggle because of my deficiencies in the sciences. No surprise that these were the courses I was struggling with in my first year in Dental School. I shared with them why I changed careers. To my surprise, as I was continuing to explain myself. The Dean of the Dental School spoke up. A voice that I hadn’t heard as the department heads shared their facts.

“Kaufman, what I am hearing here today from your professors and yourself is enough for me to offer you the opportunity to repeat your first year of dental school. With the condition that you finish out this first year with this class. How do you want to proceed?” I sat there for what seemed like minute, hoping that my dumbfounded look was not showing. I thought to myself. I have changed careers, I went back to school, and I put my life on hold. I am not married. I do not have kids. I can do this. I quickly said. “I can do this!” I thanked him and all my professors for this second chance to go after my dream. Each one of these department heads expressed to me that they would help me. But I had to ask for it. They believed that I had what it took to become a Doctor of Dental Surgery! Dr. Rice then escorted me out of the room and back to his office. He said,” Please keep this to yourself until next week. We have others to speak with.”

When I graduated from dental school, I was asked to work in the special needs clinic by the head of the restorative department, Dr. Richard Perry. He was a cheerleader and mentor for many of us who were fortunate to have had him as an instructor. I worked one day a week at the dental school and five days a week at my dad’s dental practice. It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered the brown doctor’s bag,

As I look back at my path, I wouldn’t change a thing. It took grit to get through what I had done. But not only for myself. Any of us who have chosen a professional field that requires advanced training have grit. I understand better than ever why a dentist is a doctor, and when others do not see us in that light, we have a responsibility to educate them. We need to educate them on the courses we took and the hours we put in, including the continuing education we continue to take to stay current.

We have the responsibility to observe and practice the Hippocratic oath. We play an incredible role in the lives of our patients, friends, and family. When I enter the front door of my practice, to my left on the wall is a picture of my dad. It serves as a reminder to me and the patients that he served – that he was an incredible Doctor of Dental Surgery. I sometimes think of that little brown bag. I think Doctors were easier to recognize back then because they all carried a brown or black doctor’s bag. When I close my eyes, I can still see my dad walking into our family home carrying that bag.

Dr. Kaufman is an educator, author, and clinician known for his comprehensive approach to personalized dental care. A 1995 graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry, he is a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry and actively contributes to dental advancements through research, publications, and lectures. Nationally recognized for his work, his expertise includes dental implants, cosmetic smile design, minimally invasive veneers, and full-mouth reconstructions. He holds memberships in several prestigious dental organizations, including the ADA, AGD, AACD, and AAID.