Dentists’ diversity milestone reached with women taking a lead

Towards the end of last year, quoting the Australian Dental Association (ADA) and the Federal Department of Health, Fairfax reported: Nationally, 50.2 per cent of dental practitioners were female, and 55 per cent of dentists aged 20 to 34 were women. Student member numbers at the ADA’s Victorian Branch, meanwhile, also pointed at what looks like an ongoing trend with females representing 56 per cent of its student membership.

In STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine), females are much better represented numerically in the “M”– medicine vocational grouping, but not yet nearly enough as senior managers and leaders. This is one reason why I am delighted that, at Melbourne Dental School’s world-class training facilities at the Melbourne Oral Health Teaching and Education Centre, including the Melbourne Dental Clinic, our CPD program is increasingly female-led.

A great example is our new-for-2018 Behaviour Management for Successful Practice – Sedation and CPR training. Led by distinguished specialist clinicians, Dr Sadna Rajan and Dr Gaurika Sud, this course will run from Thursday 6 to Friday 7 September and will refresh and update 15 participants’ knowledge of clinical assessment and patient management. Uniquely, it will feature hands-on training in administration of nitrous sedation. It will also focus on identifying patients who would benefit most from treatment modification, empowering them to make informed decisions about treatment options.

Dr Roy Judge (MDSc 1997, PhD 2006)
Associate Professor (Prosthodontics),
Director of Continuing Professional Development,
Melbourne Dental School