Only 19% of surgeons in the United States are women, while the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) is made up of only 8% of active female members. The Women in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Symposium brings women in OMFS together.
I wear two hats. I love both my hats dearly. The one of motherhood is worn and faded. It feels like jeans — washed 100 times — like a second skin, comfort and home and happiness.
Although the number of women in higher education is growing, they have yet to achieve equity. This gap is prominent in dentistry, where men outnumber women in school and in practice. In the 1960s, 10 percent of students in medical, law and MBA programs were women. In the 1990s, the number of graduate student women began to outnumber men.
As a high school senior, I had an opportunity to interview for a collegiate scholarship, during which I discussed my aspirations for a career in dentistry with an all-male panel of judges. I remember being asked, “Why don’t you want to be a dental hygienist or an assistant? Aren’t those the typical roles in dentistry for a female?”
I was taken aback. I was sure that it wasn’t their intention to instill self-doubt in a woman pursuing a career in a male-dominated industry. However, I couldn’t help but feel as if I was being relegated to another career, based strictly on traditional gender roles.
