Women in OMFS
Events which took place for International Women's Day 8th March 2021
A free event being run by the Chief People Officer of the NHS, Prerana Issar: Women in health and care: Achieving an equal future in a COVID 19 world.
Event now expired. See previous programme
In addition there was an event via the Royal College of Surgeons Of England: Monday 8th March at18:00
Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Chair of the Mend the Gap report on gender pay gaps in medicine in England, and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, who is currently chairing an independent review of diversity in the College’s professional leadership.
Best wishes
Kanwal Moar, BAOMS Council member
BAOMS is committed to supporting all those in and aiming for OMFS independent of their gender, race, or orientation. This page includes resources helpful for women which may also be helpful to others.
According to NHS Digital on behalf of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2019, 12.9% of the Consultant Surgeon population were female, with OMFS faring better than this:
We also have a large cohort of fantastic SAS doctors and dentists and 25% of our current specialty trainees are female, which should translate to an increased number of female Consultants in due course.
We believe the first dual qualified female Consultant to be Ms Nina Shott in 1967 and sitting on Council currently are Anne Begley, Consultant Liverpool, Kathy Fan, Consultant Kings College Hospital, London, Jennifer Graystone, Consultant Oxford, Kanwal Moar, Consultant Cambridge, Aimee Rowe, Junior Trainee & Member’s Rep, Vinita Shekar, Specialty Doctor, Dundee. We are also excited to be looking forward to our second female President of BAOMS in the near future, Daljit Dhariwal, Consultant in Oxford.
There are female Surgeons representing the entire spectrum of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the UK demonstrating that all aspects of OMFS are available to the budding Surgeon.
This is really a fantastic time to be a woman in OMFS. Many of our cohort also hold senior positions across a variety of groups including within BAOMS, within Trusts , the RCS and within JCST and other NHS organisations providing a huge breadth of experience for those interested in the specialty and those training in the specialty to tap into .
For BAOMS Members and Fellows there are a range of options you can select in your profile which automatically link you to any discussion or comments within those who have ticked that box. Joining is easy, just sign in with your log-in and password, choose ‘your details’ and ticks the boxes that apply to you. These include Women in OMFS. Go to the WOMFS discussion/comment page
Groups of interest to female surgeons
OMFS SAS Grades
We have specific pages developed to SAS grades under ‘Associate Fellow’. Our two SAS representatives are very active within BAOMS and also in RCS England - see Associate Fellows. If you are in a substantive OMFS post and are not on the OS specialist list, join the AF group.
Publications and data of interest
Resources Useful to Surgeons who are (or will soon be) Parents
Shared Parental Leave
Help with Childcare Costs
Trainee Specific Resources
SupporRTT - Supported Return To Training
Less Than Full Time Training
- LTFT (from Health Education England North West HEENW)
Top (very obvious) tips for doctors with small children
Author: Dr Clio Kennedy
- Get nursery bags packed and clothes laid out for everyone the night before.
- It is also worth always having spare clothes. At all times and in all places. For all of you. It is never ideal if a patient asks what that stain is on your dress (it’s snot, it’s always snot!)
- Give yourself lots of time - with kids and patients alike: EVERYTHING takes longer than planned.
- Handover. This is not just for colleagues regarding patients. Handover is also needed for childcare providers regarding kids: have they eaten, did they sleep well, are they sun creamed, have they done a poo yet. May seem mundane, but the person watching your kids wants to be told.
- Give childcare providers your bleep or the number of your doctors’ office. I am yet to work in a hospital with good signal. And knowing you are contactable allows you to focus on what you need to at work. I am yet to come across a childcare provider that abuses this and calls parents unnecessarily. They don’t want to speak to us during the day.
- It sounds obvious but have a jobs list ordered according to urgency. Some jobs can wait, some can’t - efficiency and good organisation is key. And that way, you will usually leave on time. It’s quite useful to have one of these at home too, as I find I forget things like the grocery shopping until the fridge is well and truly bare if I don’t have a prompt.
- Make sure you eat and drink and go to the toilet during your working day. It’s tempting to ignore the need to pee and just crack on with work - you are, after all, used to doing that as a parent. But you are no good to anyone, kids or patients or colleagues, if you have an AKI. NB: it’s also quite rare to get to do those things when you actually want to at home, so take advantage!
- The other handover - to colleagues. Particularly important if you work less than full time. This ensures that jobs are done in your absence, and that everyone knows what has already been completed and what remains. NB. Handing over, whether to nursery or a nanny, or another , requires the ability to delegate and to relinquish control, (as if you ever had it anyway!), trusting others to do a job in your absence.
- Put in your leave requests early for school holidays. And have back up childcare for bank holidays in case you are rota-ed to work (a good support network of friends and family that you can rope into last minute babysitting helps).
- If you are working nights, plan childcare in the daytime - you will need to sleep, and you cannot do this with little children around. If you are in the house and they are in the house, they will sniff you out like a tracker hound and never let you rest. Trust me.
- Sharing Google calendars with your partner / family is a game changer.
- Some people swear by routine. I don’t. Every day is different when you are a medical professional and a parent, and things crop up unexpectedly. Being too rigid can make life more difficult (and less fun). Be flexible.
- And finally, enjoy it. Getting to have conversations with other adults, to stimulate your brain, it’s exhilarating after being an extension of a tiny human at home.
Please add to these resources
The above resources have been compiled to be helpful across this space. Please do contact BAOMS office if there are any links you would like to add. The membership directory has the details of many of the Surgeons who you can contact for help or information and Council members are always happy to be contacted about any queries or questions related to being a woman in OMFS or any other issues that they can help with.