Dr. Prabu Raman CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
woke up. These events made an indelible impression of the impermanence of life. Here one day, gone the next. So every day needs to count. I finished college at age 19 and a year later moved to California with plans to study computer engineering. I switched my major to radiol- ogy technology which brought me to Kansas City area where I met my future wife and later to the UMKC School of Dentistry. We raised three daughters who are accomplished young adults. After 33 years of practice, I con- tinue to enjoy my work every day, with no plans of ever retir- ing as long as I remain healthy.
Who in your personal life has been your biggest influence or role model and why? Even though my father died when I was young, he inculcated an appreciation for being thor- ough and fair. He was always reading and learning. His role as a ‘Tahsildar’ included serv- ing as a judge in the Indian judicial system. Though not a trained lawyer, his decisions were thoughtful, thorough and legally sound. Two of his deci- sions were appealed all the way to the Indian Supreme court and were upheld. The bigger influence was my mother who
society of castes and ‘untouchables’, she would treat even ‘untouchables’ with kind- ness and dignity. She never acted superior to them when she was the wife of an important person, or later, when tragedies befell our family, ever act inferior to anyone either. It must have been from a very strong sense of
ing enough this young college student from Korea that she should make her life with me as my wife, forsaking her family and the comfortable life that they had planned for her. Woon Mi grew up in a wealthy family in Seoul with her father serving as Minister of Communications of Korea. He was instru- mental in bringing Korea into the technological age. My children were proud to see his name on a plaque on the Seoul TV tower many years later. While her family had plans
TOP: Dr. Raman graduated from UMKC in 1983 when the prime interest rate had dropped to 11 percent from the high water mark of 21.5 percent that it reached while he was in his second year of dental school. He opened a scratch practice afterward, and is seen here with the very first patient in his private practice. BELOW: Dr. Raman lectures to dentists in the U.S. and abroad on TMD treatment, and here is in Munich, Germany.
for her to marry a surgeon from a wealthy Korean family in Florida, she chose this student from India with lots of dreams but with little money to his name. She would not be swayed, even when her family disowned her. Even I ad- vised her that she should listen to her family that was really looking out for what was best for her, be- cause she would have a much bet- ter life. The other ‘achievement’ is being father of our daughters who have grown up to be confident, caring and successful women. As Jackie Kennedy said, “If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.” We definitely did not bungle that role, thanks in large part, to my first ‘achieve- ment’—my wife.
Outside of being MDA President, of all your activities—dental, civic, personal—what current activ-
lived long enough to spend time with all of my children. I did not realize how much she molded us by example, until after her death when my siblings and I were discussing some of our values and traits. My mother was al- ways optimistic. She never folded even facing what must have been seemingly insurmount- able catastrophes, such as the sudden deaths of my father and aunt. We never felt hopeless because of her optimism that everything will turn out well. She would always treat people with respect, no matter their stations in life. Even though she was raised in the Indian
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self. There was a time just after finishing col- lege that I was doing my radiology technol- ogy internship with a very minimal stipend. I actually lived in an industrial warehouse in North Kansas City where I was a ‘night watchman’. But I never felt ‘poor’ or inferior. I did not realize how important those lessons from my mother were to me until much later in my life. These were never ‘lessons’ that she discussed or preached, but simply were ab- sorbed by us based on how she lived her life.
What achievement are you most proud? The biggest ‘achievement’, since that one leads to many others later on, was somehow impress-
ity in your life are you most excited about being a part of and why? This one is easy to answer: It is my belief that all of us are put in this world for a purpose. Sadly, most people never discover that purpose. I am truly blessed to have found my purpose in alleviating the many conditions that can be disabling or severely diminish one’s quality of life. That is my clinical practice of treating TMD/CCMD patients with the usual jaw or headache problems as well as many complex, disabling conditions with numerous medical diagnoses, without a solution. I am quite clear in my role of correcting the orthopedic mal-alignment of the mandible which is
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