Lasting Impressions | Fall 2017

20 © NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY NSU COLLEGE OF DENTAL MEDICINE © 21 Faculty Impressions Diane Ede-Nichols, D.M.D., M.H.L., M.P.H., often is the calm eye of the storm. Here she is at her desk, having just returned to work from Brussels after an interna- tional conference on community health. Speaking on the phone, she points to a bottom drawer of her file cabinet for a student seeking headache capsules. Incoming emails are pinging on her computer. She manages the varied demands of overseas dental medical outreach trips, international conferences, and staff members and patients without raising a sweat. Her title, professor and chair of community and public health sciences at the College of Dental Medicine, barely hints at the full scope of her responsibilities. Ede-Nichols is a teacher, supervisor, and clinician who specializes in community dentistry and public health. She has developed programs for geriatric and special needs dentistry, including an optional second-year program specializing in special needs, which few dental schools offer other than the CDM. She also is an associate professor of public health at the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. After participating in international outreach programs for 15 years, Ede-Nichols started a CDM student-run dental mission organization 5 years ago that sends dental students to patients in Caribbean and Central American countries. She also has a special sensitivity for sick children and their families. When her son, Jonathan, was born 29 years ago, he was diagnosed with a hemorrhage on his brain. For the first few years of his life, Ede-Nichols spent long hours in hospital rooms and waiting rooms while her son was being treated. Around her were many families whose children suffered a variety of severe disabilities. “They would create the most interesting homemade contraptions for their children,” Ede-Nichols recalled. “I also saw that the children were very well taken care of. There was a clear aura of love between the parent and the child.” At the time her son fell ill, she was married to a medical resident and was a new dental school graduate herself. Her son is now a healthy adult, and Ede-Nichols reflected on how his illness changed her life. “I got into dentistry by accident. My child led me on this path, and everything just fell into place,” said Ede-Nichols, who has received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Public Health—the highest recognition attainable in the osteopathic medicine college related to public health. Last year, Ede-Nichols was named the NSU President’s Distin- guished Professor in Community Engagement. This university-wide honor recognized her long-standing commitment to service to the community. “Divine providence led me to where I needed to be. My work is an incredible blend. It’s perfect for me,” she said. Ede-Nichols uses her combination of empathy and dental skills to teach dental students to treat children and adults with disabilities and to advance dental education at home and abroad. Treating patients with disabilities can be daunting. “It takes a special caliber of person,” she said. “You will see patients with tracheotomy tubes, other people who have survived boxing or swimming pool accidents, group home patients, schizophrenics. They are often medically complex. Their stories are heart wrenching. It can be overwhelming.” One student confessed to her that after he completed his first day at the CDM Special Needs Clinic in North Miami Beach, he just sat in his car and cried. GREAT REWARDS Providing dental services to special needs patients requires patience, persistence, and a talent for solving one-of-a-kind problems. “The rewards are so great,” said Ede-Nichols. “Parents sob when they find us. They say, ‘Nobody would see my child.’ ” Marc Michalowicz, D.D.S., was Ede-Nichols’ supervisor during her training at Columbia University. Her son was on the mend but still needed a great deal of her attention. “What struck me about Diane was that she knew how to handle a patient—or life itself,” said Michalowicz. “She was just a couple of years older than the other residents, and it was a pleasure to see someone who had the maturity to handle whatever came to her.” At Columbia, Ede-Nichols performed so well that she was hired to teach, later becoming director of general practice. “She was taking Jonathan to see neurologists for years, and yet, when you saw her at work, she never let on she had these issues,” Michalowicz said. “Her attitude is that ‘This is what Patience, Persistence Tackle Special Needs BY LONA O’CONNOR Diane Ede-Nichols is professor and chair of the CDM’s community and public health sciences, and she is also an associate professor of public health at the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. Diane Ede-Nichols has developed an optional second-year program for the CDM that specializes in special needs, which few dental colleges offer.