India’s Ist woman dentist shares journey

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 22

For the first woman dentist of India and PU alumnus from Lahore Dental College, Dr Vimal Sood, the biggest challenge in old days was to make people aware that ‘tooth extraction’ was not the only treatment for all the problems. In those days, she used to travel across the country in her mobile van treating people for various teeth ailments.

Dr Vimal Sood was in Panjab University for the Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital White Coat Ceremony and induction programme for the first year students of 2016 batch.

While sharing her experience as a dentist, she said: “There is no doubt that in old days there was constraint in her movement even as a doctor. With her colleagues, she used to explore the dental field as much as possible.”

Recalling her days in dental course, she said out of 30 students in her class, she was the only girl due to which she always got special treatment not from her classmates only but by the professors as well. They used to motivate her all the time.

“It was my brother’s decision that I join a dental course. Everyone in my family was a doctor. This is how my journey as a dentist started in Lahore Panjab University,” she said.

Dr Vimal Sood was also the part of a dentist team that had set up a camp in Jalandhar to treat the patients coming to India after partition from Pakistan. “In those days, I just used whatever instruments I could get and reached this status today,” she said while addressing to the students on the campus.

When asked whether she wants to go to Lahore to see her old dental college, she said, “Going to Lahore now is a difficult task.”

Besides, Dr S Mohammad Reza Khalili from the Embassy of Islamic Republic of Iran expressed his happiness to be the part of the event and advised the students to do justice to the profession. The Executive Member of the DCI, Dr Anil Singla, PU Dean University Instructions, Prof Dinesh Kumar Gupta, and Dean International Deepti Gupta were also present during the ceremony. The ceremony was attended by the parents of the students. After receiving their white coats from the dignitaries, the students took the dental oath.

Girl shines 

Shubham Gaur bagged gold medal for first position in six streams of dentistry and also received the best graduate award. She said the inspiration comes from the family. Her father works in Army and mother a teacher. “I wanted to pursue MBBS but then could not get through. So, I took BDS. After counselling when I got the college, I started liking the course,” said Gaur.