Vimla Sood (1922 – 1 August 2021) was the first woman to become a dentist in India. She graduated from the
University of the Punjab in 1944.
Education
Sood was the only woman out of 30 students in her class at the
DeMontmorency College of Dentistry in Lahore.
She graduated
University of the Punjab in 1944.
Her family were all doctors, and encouraged her to become a dentist. She moved to
New York
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* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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for an internship and travelled America, completing a master's degree in Pediatric Dentistry in 1955 at the
University of Minnesota.
After
partition, Sood moved to
Chandigarh.
Career and later life
Sood worked in Wellingdon Hospital (now
Ram Manohar Lohia
Ram Manohar Lohia ; (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader. During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast s ...
), where she used to visit villages in a mobile van.
She later joined
Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research.
In November 2016 she arranged a
White Coat Ceremony for dental college students swearing their professional oath.
Sood died on 1 August 2021, at the age of 99.
Recognition and Awards
Sood was recognised by the Indian Dental Association as senior respected faculty, she was honored by IDA Chandigarh on Teachers day, 5 September 2020. She was also recognised as the first lady dentist by faculty of Dr. Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences & Hospital and her life was celebrated with this video
at the event.
References
1922 births
2021 deaths
20th-century dentists
20th-century Indian people
Women dentists
Indian dentists
University of Minnesota School of Dentistry alumni
University of the Punjab alumni
Indian expatriates in the United States
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