Giano Ricci

Disappointed, I found out where the lecturer was staying, and as soon as I got the information, I rushed to the Grand Hotel and sat in a chair in front of the entrance, certain I would meet him when he returned.

After three hours of waiting, the professor appeared at the hotel’s revolving door and went inside. Like lightning, I ran up to him and introduced myself again, explaining that I wanted to enroll at Boston University.

He firmly told me: “I no longer accept Italians.”
“Why?”
“Because they come, start well, and after 4–5 months, around Christmas, they tell me they want to go back to Italy because life in the USA is too hard and they don’t feel comfortable. So I lose a training position, and I can’t replace it because the course has already started.”
“With me, that won’t happen!”

I left and sent 19 red roses to his wife, who was at the hotel.

A few months later I received an acceptance letter for the program. Later on, after becoming friends with the professor, he would sometimes laugh and say: “Giano, you got into Boston University with a bouquet of flowers!”—and we would both laugh heartily.

My experience at Boston University changed my life greatly for the better, but I had to work very hard.

After three months of my arrival, I was assigned only simple cases because I was one of the two foreign students in the course, and therefore the most interesting cases were given to American students.

One evening, risking expulsion from the course, I jumped behind the reception desk and obtained the clinical records of the most complex cases. The next morning, I called the patients and told them they had been assigned to me for treatment.

The working hours in the Periodontology department were very strict: from 9:00 to 17:00 theory and clinical practice, and from 17:00 to 19:00 in the library reading books and publications. Often, some colleagues would take the publications home to prevent others from reading them and becoming better prepared for the next day’s seminars.

Finally, after 3–4 months, the day of my first surgical procedure arrived. I was excited and believed I had perfectly prepared the surgical tray, radiographs, and impressions of the patient.

The mentor arrived, examined the patient, asked me to describe the procedure I intended to perform, looked at me, and said: “Today you cannot operate on this patient.”

In disbelief, I asked why.

“You see, Giano, the bone levels between the upper canines and premolars are not clearly visible on the radiographs.”

“Professor, give me a moment and I’ll retake the X-rays so we can start.”

“No, because you must arrive at surgery with the entire situation perfectly documented. You will perform the operation next week.”

I was about to throw the surgical tray at him and punch him. I hated him at that moment, but over time I understood that he was teaching me that one must approach surgery with the entire protocol perfectly in order.

This is one of the many things I learned at Boston University, which I later passed on to my students, always aiming to shape them to pursue only the very best. Above all, thanks to my main mentors I learned a great deal of histology (every Monday from 9:00 to 12:00), which allowed me to understand the biological mechanisms of disease and healing, the different surgical and non-surgical therapeutic techniques, how to present a case to a patient, how to explain it in detail, and how to confidently outline the long-term prognosis.