To celebrate Women’s History Month, Naomi Douglas and Chloe Poole (UBDSS), in collaboration with the ED&I Committee, asked some of our female staff to reflect on their careers, achievements, inspirations, and challenges they’ve overcome. This will be shared as a series of posts over the next few weeks, and represents just a small portion of the inspiring women that we work with at Bristol Dental School.
The first in our series is Dr Laurna Lambert.
What advice would you give your dental student/younger self?
“If there is a solution, there’s no need to worry. If there isn’t a solution, worrying won’t help.” I think I’ve paraphrased the Dalai Lama there but the message that worrying is wasted energy is one I’d like to gift myself as an undergrad. I also should have laughed more and cried less!
What’s the greatest achievement of your career so far?
Graduating Trinity College Dublin with BDentSc (Hons) as that was the stepping stone to this wonderful life I have been so fortunate to live in the South-West of England. There is so much more I have yet to achieve in my career, I feel very fortunate to be part of a motivated and ambitious team constantly driving forward to improve teaching, learning and patient care.
Which women have inspired you in your career?
During my undergraduate training it was my Paediatric Dentistry Supervisor Dr. Rhona Leith as she was incredibly knowledgeable, passionate, and approachable; someone I role modelled. During my DFT year when I was very new to Bristol it was (and still is!) my incredible female dentist friends who are each creating their own, individual path in the dental field. Since joining the University, I have been amazed by the outstanding work of so many talented women in Bristol Dental School. We are incredibly fortunate to have enthusiastic, highly qualified, ambitious females leading us forward.
What have been the biggest challenges or triumphs for you during the pandemic? (at work or personally)
Social distancing and restrictions have been a struggle for me personally as I enjoy the energy and face-to-face interaction of life in the Dental School. I hadn’t fully appreciated how much I thrive on working in a large, busy environment with lots of different personalities and opportunities for interaction.
If you’d like to contribute to this blog series, simply email your answers (and an image of yourself) to ords-swan@bristol.ac.uk.