This week the dental hygiene community gathered at UCSF to honor and celebrate Peggy Walsh, who passed January 23, 2016. Peggy has inspired and mentored so many that the room was overflowing with those wishing to pay respects and find comfort in the stories of a remarkable woman.
Peggy touched many, many, many lives, and mine was one of them. I first encountered Dr Walsh during my initial quarter in the UCSF Dental Hygiene program where she directed the courses a student either loved or hated. I say this because her courses were theory courses and the content was less directly perceived as clinical by some, but I loved the heady conversations of foundational paradigms and sphere of influence. It was in one of these courses that I identified I wanted to continue my education and began to select and subsequently apply for my graduate program while still completing the BS. It was with Peggy Walsh that I was validated in my belief that a dental hygienist was MUCH MORE than a tooth-cleaning automaton, but had the unique opportunity to empower individuals in their care to improve and maintain health far beyond the teeth and gums. This vision of dental hygienist as change agent and health advocate inspired me to reach beyond my initial goals and continue to push to find a way to contribute beyond clinical practice.
There was a tradition at the time I was a hygiene student that the seniors would hold a good-natured faculty roast at the end of the year. We had great fun writing our skits and working to encapsulate the faculty in kind, memorable, and hilarious ways. We had chosen a TV theme to tie all the skits together and chosen a TV show for each faculty member. Peggy Walsh was represented by a TV evangelist asking those gathered to "FEEEEEEEL THE POWER OF THE SEVEN HABITS" (referencing the Seven Habits of Effective People, a text we used in one of her courses), and I was cast in the role of Peggy. I will never forget that her fabulous laugh was constant and loudest throughout the entire skit. Afterwards she and I joked and giggled for a long time; she was always quick to laugh.
Dr Walsh dedicated her life to the dental hygiene profession and to tobacco research. She was a prolific and hardworking researcher who traveled the state collecting data to assist evidence-based decisions regarding the health effects of tobacco. While awaiting my license Peggy brought me on to do follow up telephone interviews with participants in one of her studies, which was the first time I experienced community-based research and realized while I didn't feel at home in bench research, this was something I enjoyed.
The very first dentist I ever worked with found me from a personal recommendation from Peggy Walsh. My first textbook chapter was in the second edition of Dental Hygiene Theory & Practice, Peggy's textbook. I was mentored in community outreach by Peggy. The list could continue.
Dr Peggy Walsh touched so many and changed the profession of dental hygiene both directly and indirectly through her scholarly pursuits and engaging personality. She moved academic mountains while also being someone you would enjoy chatting with; she never walled herself off or put herself above others.
I am deeply grateful for the many years I was fortunate to work with Peggy. I am grateful for the many people she has encouraged and influenced and the great things they have and will accomplish as a result of her energy and intellect.
I will miss you Peggy. Thank you for all you have given me.
Peggy and I at the Blue Lake Lodge during a research trip, Summer of 2014.