Impressions
The Winds of Change by Dr . Stephen T . Radack III , Editor
When I arrived on the Pitt campus to start my dental journey 41 years ago ( did I really just type that number ?) on September 1 , 1982 , I was asking myself many questions .
Had I made the right choice ? Where would I park my 1974 VW Bug for free ? Where was I supposed to pay the tuition bill since the registrar ’ s office was not in the dental school ? Should I really buy every textbook on the list ? That list included the “ very good human skull ” for $ 110 . That big black instrument case sure was heavy – how am I going to haul that thing all over the school ?
Why are they making us dress in all white , including the shoes ? I looked like an ice cream man instead of a first year in dental school ! The furthest thing from my mind was how many girls were in my class . There were only 14 out of 110 . It was just not something I had even considered , since at Grove City College where I got my undergraduate degree that was never an issue , since 50 % of the student body were women .
Those 14 girls ( Ammons , Barrett , Basco , Campisano , Dempsey , Rylands , just to name a few ) were the top of their undergrad classes and some of the best students in my class . Many of these ladies in my class were my friends , no different from the guys , and we shared the highs and lows of those four years together and then we were off to start our careers .
When I started teaching at the LECOM School of Dental Medicine when it opened in Erie in 2015 , the class ratio was almost 50 %, and as the next classes came to Erie during my 5 years there , women did in fact make up 50 % of the classes . Not only had the number of women in the classes changed , but the names had also changed ( Ayoub , Bajwa , deFrias , Ghnaim , Perez , Ramirez , Reihani , Samimfar , Sulaiman ). Our profession had transformed in the last 30 years .
When I started my career in Erie there weren ’ t a lot of women dentists in Erie , but those that were practicing here were members of organized dentistry . An interesting note is that one of the women pioneers in dentistry in Pennsylvania , Bertha O ’ Leary Gette , practiced in Erie County !
Over the years , there were a few ladies at every monthly meeting ; however it was interesting they were not allowed to order a drink at the bar of the men ’ s only club where we met . Shame ! During my time in organized dentistry there has always been a female dentist at the table in leadership , whether it be the Erie County Dental Association , Ninth District , PDA or ADA . As the years passed , we even had women comprising the majority of our Board of Directors of the Erie County Dental Association . Drs . Crocker , Johnson , King , Kubit , Orlando , Trice-Borgia , Tuthill and Wolford are the names of our women past presidents .
At the last PDA Board of Trustees meeting there were six women seated at the board table , including the immediate past president . There have been women in the board room in the past , but this exemplifies a remarkable paradigm shift . I have no doubt there will be more women joining Drs . Thompson , Himmelberger and Rosenthal as women who have served as PDA presidents . One day we may even see one of our colleagues join Drs . Morrow , Feinberg , Roth and Summerhays as past presidents of the ADA .
I know I see things through my XY lenses , but as the father of two outstanding daughters I can say the winds of change have definitely clocked around . I have seen a steady increase in class ratios of females to males , and in some cases more females than males in dental schools , as well as the number of women involved in organized dentistry and our leadership . There may have been an old boys club once , kind of like that venue where our meetings were held in back in the day , but that club has been busted open and both the profession and our association are the better for it . Incidentally , that men ’ s only club in Erie is closed !
P . S . - Please take the time to read the outstanding feature articles in this special PDJ issue focusing on Women in Dentistry . There are so many different perspectives from our member dentists that tell their inspiring stories .
— STR3
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL 5