10 March 2021

Celebrating ADAVB women on International Women's Day - Rowena Tran

This International Women’s Day we introduce our committee members and emerging leaders on our Recent Graduates and Students Committee (RGSC).

Rowena Tran - RGSC member and final year dentistry student at The University of Melbourne

Why did you join the committee?

Following a tough year for our community, especially for dental students around Australia, I’m glad to be a part of RGSC to further enrich our student life and ease the transition of the next cohort of dentists. The support and advocacy from ADAVB is constant and greatly appreciated. The unpredictable of events last year truly highlighted to me the gratitude I have for ADAVB.

Tell us about a woman who has inspired you in your work, life or studies.

During highschool, I found great admiration in the strength and passion of Malala Yousafzai. It was astounding that despite being the same age as me, she was in the other hemisphere advocating fearlessly for human rights and in particular women's educational rights. She reinforced the belief that your gender or age cannot limit your capacity to achieve greatness. Malala continues to be an inspiration for all of us, and I hope that her story, sacrifices and strength will be taught to the next generations. I believe she is the perfect personification of IWD's 2021 #ChooseToChallenge theme.

The theme of IWD is ‘Choose to challenge’. What does this mean to you?

This year's #ChooseToChallenge initiative reminds me to be unafraid of calling out gender biases and inequalities wherever they may pop up in our lives - be it within the school, workplace or social environment. I believe it is important to break these biases but also strive to educate ourselves of the many social injustices that surround us. I am glad to be able to stand amongst the smart and powerful women in our dental field and will unwaver to celebrate our achievements collectively.

Find out more about the new RGSC in the upcoming April Victorian Dentist! Applications open for all other ADAVB committees in April. Visit adavb.org/about/our-people/committees to find out more and apply.

More information about IWD 2021: internationalwomensday.com/About