Pathways of the DPMG women at FoDOCS

Clarissa Hjalmarsson - DPMG student

Can you tell us a little about your career thus far and why you have chosen to study dentistry at FoDOCS?

I started by doing a degree in Arabic and History at SOAS, then towards the end of my degree spent some time in hospitals in different places and decided I wanted to pursue Medicine. I studied Medicine at Cambridge as a graduate student, and then completed my medical foundation training in London. It became clear to me during my training and placements that I wanted to be a surgeon, and that maxillofacial surgery was a great fit for me - the face has unique bones, major sensory organs, the mouth with all its functions, and soft tissues that are really important to people’s sense of self. It has every aetiology, from congenital conditions to trauma and cancer. The pathology is also interesting, whether you're looking at a cellular level or zoom out to what’s happening in our societies. I applied to King’s to study on the dentistry programme for medics and was lucky enough to get a place. King’s was my first choice as it has reputation for great teaching, and I was inspired by the talented clinicians running the course. I also grew up in London and was happy to be staying for a few more years.

What, if any, challenges did you encounter along the way, and how did you navigate them?

I regularly encounter sexism while working as a doctor, from something as simple as having to reiterate to patients (or sometimes colleagues) for the fifth or sixth time in a day that you are actually the doctor who has come to treat them. Most of my female colleagues have experienced inappropriate comments and harassment at work. Like all forms of discrimination, it’s an intersectional issue: women who are non-white or have other protected characteristics typically experience more discrimination and receive less support. 

If you could, what advice would you give your younger self at the start of your career?

Sometimes it can be hard to bet on yourself in competitive environments - when I applied to Cambridge and to King’s, both times I didn’t think I would get in and had made back up plans for what I would actually do. I would tell my younger self to keep at it, and not be intimidated by people who may be louder but less qualified than you. 

The Women in STEMM campaign hopes to bring together staff and students from across King’s science and medical faculties to share empathy and allyship on how we break down barriers faced by women in STEM. Can you share your thoughts on this and why it is important to you?

I’m aware that I have been very privileged to have these experiences, and that mentors, friends and family have helped me every step of the way. Realising I had allies that would support me was a transformative experience in my career, and I try to be that person for others. I’ve been a mentor for Health Pioneers for a few years, helping A level students facing socioeconomic inequality to get into medical school. I enjoy speaking to other trainees who want to do maxfax as a career, and supporting them to pursue it.

Jasmine Ho - DPMG student

Can you tell us a little about your career thus far and why you have chosen to study dentistry at FoDOCS?

I am a surgical trainee at the cusp of applying for specialist training. From my exposure to OMFS (Oral Maxillofacial Surgery) during my core surgical training years, I fell in love with this unique specialty and decided that I was going to pursue it. Therefore, I have applied to study dentistry at FoDOCS to fulfil the application criteria for higher surgical training. It also helps immensely that King’s offers a unique accelerated programme for medical graduates (3 year DPMG course) which makes a big difference for those who are keen to get back into training as soon as possible. However, my career hasn’t been all that straightforward. I first studied medicine at UCL and pursued several postgraduate degrees during my medical and surgical training in London as I was equally interested in academic research. I had completed my PhD degree before applying for this course in dentistry and I can’t tell you how many friends and family members thought I was crazy to go back to do another degree again! However there is quite a gap in surgical research and innovation since not many surgeons choose to take time out of training to do research like myself, so there are always funding opportunities available if this is your calling. The price to pay is the time away from training and further delays to becoming a consultant. But I find research incredibly rewarding and fascinating so this was the path I forged for myself.

What, if any, challenges did you encounter along the way, and how did you navigate them?

As a woman in science, medicine and surgery, there is a whole spectrum of challenges that I have encountered at every stage. Unfortunately, many of them are gender-related in nature It is sometimes hard to navigate these as you may feel that you don’t want to ‘rock the boat’ too much. However, the truth is that challenges for women were broken down only because someone in history did ‘rock the boat’. So I guess my way of navigating such challenges was to learn a bit from history, keep my head high at all times and not be afraid to call out on sexism when it presented itself. I also found resilience is key to not letting these challenges get in the way of pursuing what you want to do. Hence, knowing what you want in life is also equally crucial as it will help you focus on how to get there and not be sidetracked by an inevitable stumbling block that will present itself now and then. And also having a network of support will help make these challenges much easier to overcome.

If you could, what advice would you give your younger self at the start of your career?

Don’t forget yourself and look after yourself. Start to build good habits that help to keep this going later in life as it is easy to forget when you become a working mother!

The Women in STEMM campaign hopes to bring together staff and students from across King’s science and medical faculties to share empathy and allyship on how we break down barriers faced by women in STEM. Can you share your thoughts on this and why it is important to you?

The reason I have come this far in my career is mainly because of camaraderie amongst colleagues and having good female mentors and role models to look up to. We are only able to climb the mountain when we have others higher up to help lift us. And barriers are there to be broken down by those who see the need to have it down - you just need to gather a few like-minded people to build the strength in numbers to help with that process. It is also important to grasp that many of us face similar struggles in our careers. Sharing our struggles more openly can help motivate us more when we face barriers. I often found reading biographies of past women trailblazers so inspiring, so I feel that such a campaign for women in STEM across King’s will undoubtedly have a positive effect on other women seeking solace and inspiration.