I first met Clayton Shalla as a student in the oral pathology course during my second year of dental school. It was a notoriously difficult course and in that context Clayton's patience and easygoing manner made him an effective teacher and a pleasure to work with. He was a superior role model in the clinic in many ways but the one thing that I remember most was that he was always thinking. The wheels were always turning in his head and he conveyed that to the student. I came to understand much later that he was trying to teach the student how to think like a diagnostician by questioning the clinical observations and the information in the patient history. His socratic approach in the clinic during the third year of asking the student relatively simple questions about even the most routine findings was his way of telling the student what questions the student should be asking himself in similar situations to reach a more accurate diagnosis. You might feel embarrassed to have not fully considered the situation in those moments but you soon learned to think situations through more thoroughly.
I eventually decided to pursue a teaching career in dentistry and Clayton was central in encouraging and advising me. I made an appointment with Clayton to discuss coming back into education after three years of general practice and the first thing he said was, What took you so long? That was very valuable encouragement during a very uncertain time for me. He encouraged me to pursue the oral pathology certificate but to focus on radiology as a way of making myself more employable, which was invaluable guidance and the basis for my consulting practice that continues to this day. During the three years of the oral pathology program and all of the seventy and eighty hour weeks during that time Clayton always seemed to know when I needed a kind word or a bit of encouragement. I might have made it through without Clayton's help but I'm not sure how. He gave me the be
