By Jane Metlikovec
When Dr Vui Tan (DCD 2018) was announced as the recipient of the Ephraim Ehrmann Prize in Endodontics, she was humbled and a little awed. Dr Ernst ‘Effy’ Ehrmann was something of a legend when she was on campus.
The award, given to a postgraduate student with exceptional performance, integrity and passion for the field, is named after a man whom Dr Tan never met, but whose work continues to shape her profession.
“I wasn’t a student at the University of Melbourne during Effy’s time, but his name was so constant in conversations on campus that I quickly learned a lot about him,” says Dr Tan.
The growth in the field of Endodontics today is built on the groundwork Effy laid decades ago, long before Dr Tan joined Melbourne Dental School and was awarded the prize in 2018.
A young migrant finds his calling
In 1936, Effy was 11-years-old and living in Germany. The winds of war were looming, and the situation was not looking good for the Jewish people.
Effy’s father, Ludwig, was a doctor. When his practicing licence was rescinded, he decided Hitler would not stop at that restriction alone and left Germany, recalls Megan Ellinson, one of Effy’s three children.
The Ehrmanns spent three years in Jerusalem before migrating to Australia and Effy’s father then set about finding a suitable school for his astute son. Also known as Ephraim, Effy’s name remains on the Honour Board at Melbourne High School for topping the state in Hebrew.
As the family settled into St Kilda, Effy enrolled at the University of Melbourne to study Engineering. But he soon switched to Dentistry – his true calling.
“According to him, he wasn't the best undergraduate student, but he was deeply passionate about the field,” says Ms Ellinson.
So much so that Effy soon departed Australia to train in the UK.
“In Bristol he learned about this new specialty where they weren't pulling out teeth, but saving them,” says Megan Ellinson.
“This took him to Canada and he continued training in this new field called Endodontics. But after six years away, it was time to return.”
Back in Melbourne, Effy joined a Jewish study group to make new friends. He met his future wife, Susie, went into clinical practice and returned to the Melbourne Dental School to teach.
The real-time evolution of endodontics
It was here in the late 1980s that a young Dr Peter Parashos (BDS 1980, MDS 1989, PhD 2004), the recent former Chair and Professor of Endodontics and former Convenor of Postgraduate Endodontics, first met Effy.
Around 40 years later, Professor Parashos remembers Effy’s clinical postgraduate teaching sessions were on a Thursday.
He had such a big presence because he was so very passionate. Professor Peter Parashos
“Endodontics was a very new discipline in those days when Effy was a young dentist, and root canal treatment of posterior teeth was quite difficult.”
Back then, it was a case of technology catching up to where early specialists like Effy were already at in terms of understanding the biology of root canal infections.
“The instruments were much larger than the root canals themselves. So, people like Effy, who really were onto something, had to wait until technology developed where manufacturers could machine instruments to 0.06mm at the tip, to move forward,” says Professor Parashos.
Once this happened, Effy led the way. A steady stream of postgraduate students, himself included, filed into those Thursday afternoon demonstration clinics to learn about root canal therapy and what it meant to save someone’s tooth.
Effy was an early adopter of new technical innovations such as the operating microscope and rotary nickel-titanium instruments.
“There's still a CPD course that we run at the Melbourne Dental School, ‘Contemporary Endodontics’, that morphed from a course Effy started,” says Professor Parashos.
However, Effy didn’t only teach technical ability. He reinforced the importance of looking after people and treating them well.
Carrying forward a legacy of skill and care
This passion drove Effy to spend years establishing the Australian Society of Endodontology (ASE) – a project he would work on after a day of teaching or seeing patients in his Collins Street clinic.
When Effy died in 2011, Susie approached the Melbourne Dental School with an idea for a memorial award. The Ephraim Ehrmann Prize in Endodontics was to be awarded to a postgraduate student with the best overall performance in the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (Endodontics) program.
“It’s awarded to someone who has very strong integrity and principles,” says Megan Ellinson.
“They should be passionate about the field and want to give back, like Vui. She has deep knowledge, is very generous and is the type of endodontist my father would be proud of.”
Dr Tan, who is a recent ASE Victorian branch president and private practice endodontist, sees her job as part of a much bigger story.
“Effy was such a pioneer and while he was known for his dedication as an individual, he also knew that we were better together. He worked hard to establish an endodontic society in Victoria and nationally, which fostered the strong community we have today,” she says.
Having great mentors and teachers really drew me into the field in the first place and that is a testament to Effy and is an inspiration that continues to guide me. Dr Vui Tan
Dr Tan occasionally returns to the University of Melbourne as a clinical demonstrator in Endodontics and so continues to help shape the future built on Effy’s legacy.
Find out about the Ephraim Ehrmann Memorial Prize
Support current students to thrive