FEA TURE
BLAZING A TRAIL FOR WOMEN IN DENTISTRY
ELIZABETH SAUNDERS, RECIPIENT OF THE 2015 SCOTTISH DENTAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, TALKS ABOUT HER CAREER IN TEACHING AND RESEARCH
Saunders was also a trailblazer for women in dentistry. T e profession in the 1960s,
A
especially academic dentistry, was a very diff erent place to what we are used to nowadays. Elizabeth said: “When I started my dental career, women dentists were defi nitely in the minority – in fact, almost non-existent in the academic sphere. It has been fascinating to see how things have changed over the years. Women certainly aren’t in the minority in dentistry now.” In her distinguished career,
the recipient of the 2015 Scottish Dental Lifetime Achievement Award proved to be an inspiration for generations of students of both sexes, but she explained that she always stressed the importance of getting the work-life balance right to her female students especially. She said: “Getting the work-life
balance is particularly tricky for women and there were two pieces of advice I always gave to my female undergraduate students. “T e fi rst one was to step out of your comfort zone, to aim higher
SCO TTISH DENT AL
s well as dedicating her working life to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research in the fi eld of endodontics, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Saunders accepting her award at the
Scottish Dental Awards
than you think you are capable of, higher than you think you can achieve. If you don’t try, you will never know what is possible. “Secondly, for a woman, getting
family life and dentistry in balance will almost always mean stepping back from full-time work when children are young, but it is not wise to stop altogether. You should always keep a foot in the career door because avoiding loss of confi dence is every bit as important as loss of skill. I like to think a few dentists took on board my advice and I fi nd it fantastic now to see so
14
many female dentists having the personal confi dence to do so well in all walks of dentistry.” After graduating from St
Andrews University in 1963, Elizabeth spent a short time in general practice, followed by a few years away from dentistry when her three children were young. She then joined Dundee Dental School as a senior house offi cer in the department of conservative dentistry, moving on to became a lecturer and then senior clinical lecturer. Although teaching clinical
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52