Celebrating 100 years of women dental professionals

Radhika Ladwa
Co-President of KCL Women in Dentistry

I have included Radhika in this selection of great women in the dental profession before she has qualified. Why? Because as a student she is an absolute inspiration to women within the profession both before and after qualification. I am totally convinced that Radhika will make an incredible contribution to the profession as her career progresses. (Janine Brooks)

Where did you qualify and when?           King’s College London   2018

What attracted you to dentistry?

Having graduated from London School of Economics and gone on to work in the city, my life did not feel fulfilled. It was the multifactorial and caring aspect which attracted me to dentistry. The team work and lifelong relationships with patients whom you are helping, to the opportunity to be practical and artistic, to the financial and career independence that can be achieved. As a whole I look forward to the challenges the dental profession has to offer. 

What are your current responsibilities in the profession?

Co-founder of Women in Dentistry Society, a network of students and professionals aiming to encourage and inspire women to achieve their full potential within the profession. We hope to raise the profile and celebrate the contributions of women within dentistry, understand and address barriers women maybe facing, as well provide support and role models for undergraduate students.

Which of your mentors have influenced you the most?

I will always appreciate Dr Cabot giving me the opportunity to study Dentistry at King’s. Having not come from a science background, many of the other Universities were not open to giving me a chance, yet he appreciated the other skills I had to offer. It is something I will always be grateful for. In addition, Dr Cabot was and has always been very supportive and encouraging with the Society Women In Dentistry that I and a fellow colleague set up at King’s. He helped us through the many hurdles we came across when setting up this society and really understood from the start what we hoped to achieve with it.  

How have you used mentoring throughout your career?

For me without mentoring I would not be where I am today. My own career path having changed so dramatically, it was only through the advice and support of various mentors that I was able to achieve success. This is why I believe it’s important to help others in the same way. I have been involved in K+ which is a mentoring scheme set up by King’s which allows young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to be in touch with mentors who can help them with their education and career options in dentistry. In addition, through our Society Women in dentistry our aim is to provide mentoring scheme which links students with professionals and the hope this can continue once they graduate.