While surviving the rigors of dental school is daunting for most students, Wayne Gardner, D.D.S., M.S., almost had his dream of becoming a dentist dashed by a life-altering accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1986, I was 28 years old and a sophomore in dental school. I stayed late one November night to attend a presentation by a community dentist,\u201d said Dr. Gardner, who was attending the Medical College of Virginia-Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfterward, as I was riding home on my motorcycle, I took my usual route down a straight four-lane street. It was dark, and as I came to an angled intersection an oncoming car didn\u2019t see my lights and turned into me. I flew over the front of my bike and slid to the sidewalk. I knew immediately that things were serious as my leg was lying at an odd angle and partially severed,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Some bystanders indicated that his attempt to stop the bleeding by squeezing his leg was not working, so he used his belt and a donated drumstick as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding until help arrived. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I was going to die. I was thinking that I was lucky that my leg was my only injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
He spent a week in the hospital and then went back to his pre-clinical courses on crutches, and was fitted with a prosthesis a few months later.<\/p>\n
When asked how he was able to return to dental school after such a traumatic experience, he said he really isn\u2019t sure. \u201cI just know that you can usually find a way to do the things that are important to you. You have a choice to laugh or cry. I knew I would not be able to ever play basketball or run competitively again, but that\u2019s okay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Gardner said he sees life as \u201can incredible long-distance race rather than a sprint. Your ability to focus and keep trying is what keeps you in the race. Things turn up here and there in your life that can make your race more difficult, but they can almost always be overcome with persistence and effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not all gifted with the same abilities. Everyone has challenges in life; some are more obvious than others. How we are challenged or gifted is often less important than our determination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Since 1989, Dr. Gardner, an assistant professor in the Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, has shared this philosophy as well as his expertise in general dentistry and the specialty of prosthodontics with dental students and residents in the School of Dentistry at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. He was named Professor of the Year in the Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program in 2006\u2009\u2013\u20092007 and won the Faculty Assembly Teaching Excellence Award in 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really is a lot of fun to be able to work with the students and residents. It\u2019s great to be able to see when they have that \u2018aha\u2019 moment, when they start putting the pieces together and they start seeing the \u2018big picture\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou help them correlate the pieces\u2014the information they need to treat their patients. It\u2018s fun to see when they realize they knew the answers all along but didn\u2019t know they knew,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Dr. Gardner also has served as a Scoutmaster for the last 18 years. He enjoys working with and mentoring young people and is very active in his church. He and his wife of 33 years, Karen, have six sons, who are all Eagle Scouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI encourage my students to study hard but also take time to play. It\u2019s good to have balance in life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wayne Gardner, D.D.S., M.S., survived a life-altering accident during dental school. He now shares his life experience and dental expertise with students facing their own challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"magazine":[23],"issue-year":[19],"featured-story":[],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","magazine-salute","issue-year-19"],"yoast_head":"\n