The Practice of Caring

By Holly Prestidge | Photo by Adam DeTour

Christy Kirk, D.D.S., celebrated the new year in 2003 with excitement and optimism. 

Newly married in December 2002, and months away from graduating from the VCU School of Dentistry and joining her husband, David Kirk, D.D.S., in Boston, the future looked bright.  

In February 2003, however, Christy suffered a stroke. She’d learn then that she had an atrial septal defect, which is a hole between the two top chambers in the heart. 

Her final semester’s clinical rotations were wrapping up, and her new husband was hours away when she began to face this challenge.  

Despite being worried about how her health would impact graduation, Christy said VCU faculty provided her with everything she needed to not only recover but also finish her studies and walk the stage at graduation.   

A big part of that support was her new husband, who graduated from the VCU School of Dentistry three years earlier. David was working in his mother’s dental practice in Boston, but he put his work on hold to return to Richmond for a few months to help Christy with her few remaining required procedures.  

One day after graduation, Christy had heart surgery at VCU Health.  

“Immediately after the stroke, he was essentially my nurse at home,” she said. “We’d only been married two months, but he took on every task so willingly. He gave me the confidence to finish my last few requirements. I felt like a totally different person than the one he married, but he never flinched.”  

David said he appreciated the accommodations VCU faculty made in helping his wife, a talented student and promising dentist, meet her goals.   

“My focus became all about helping Christy get healthy and rehab,” he said. “She was so close to graduation, and there was a great deal of uncertainty as to what lasting effects this health scare would have for her.” 

But, he said, “the dean and the clinical faculty were great – they allowed me to assist Christy as she finished with her last few patients.”  

That harrowing experience shaped Christy’s career as a dentist.  

While her heart condition was treated, lingering anxiety weighed on her. As a dentist, she explained, she has many patients who share their lives with her and sometimes those stories include health and other issues with which they’re struggling.  

“My experience gave me a lot of compassion for people going through tough situations,” she said. “I can better relate to my patients who’ve had medical crisis or who just feel anxiety.” 

She credits VCU with saving her life but also nurturing a career that’s more like a passion than a job. Additionally, Christy found her peer group at VCU that’s remained connected for more than two decades.  

“There are 12 of us that have been on the same text string since dental school,” Christy said, adding that the group’s expertise spans orthodontia and prosthodontia, to pediatric and general dentistry. Where they used to share the collective pains of getting through dental school as students, these days, the group chats veer off onto parenting sagas or, during COVID, where everyone was getting their masks and lab coats.   

“We collaborate all the time on every topic possible,” she said. “And it stems from the way the faculty cultivated this sense of friendship among us.” 

“MCV grads find each other,” Christy said. “It has always been like a class family.”  

Now 23 years into her career, she’s grateful to VCU for not only preparing her professionally but connecting her to people who’ve made an impact on her life. 

“We work very hard, but we also feel very lucky,” David said. “Giving back is our way to give thanks and pay it forward to the next generation of clinicians.” 

“We love this campus, we have loved our careers, and we’ve loved the people we’ve met,” Christy added. “It’s less like work and more like seeing your friends in the patients you care for. “That’s what VCU did for us.”  

David agreed.  

“I owe a lot of my professional and personal success to MCV,” he said. “I found my passion in dentistry and my love of my life in Christy. It’s a special place.” 

If you would like to support the VCU School of Dentistry, please contact Gloria Callihan, the school’s associate dean for development and alumni relations, at gfcallihan@vcu.edu or 804-828-8101.