Same professional area and this
approximates us a lot. He was
always very enthusiastic about my
professional growth and success.
His support during my whole
professional career development
was unconditional.
Is it a problem for your partner if
you are an OMS?
Absolutely no problem. On the
contrary, we support each other.
How do you see OMS in Brazil in
20 years?
In the last four decades, several
Brazilian surgeons had the
opportunity to train abroad and
bring in knowledge from several
countries. Many outstanding
foreign surgeons came to Brazil
to give courses and lectures. With
that, OMS in Brazil advanced
conceptually and clinically.
At the same time, in the last 20
years, the training of Brazilian
oral and maxillofacial surgeons
acquired a new direction with
the formal acceptance of the
residence training, which was made
official by gonverment regulatory
organizations. That, added to
the expertise of surgeons who
were trained abroad, allowed
the specialty to effectively
occupy its proper space and to
be consolidated in this country.
Presently, we have several centers
that are highly capable of offering
adequate training to young
surgeons and quality treatment to
patients. On the other hand we still
lack technologies and resources
which are readily available in
developed countries.
Another important point I see,
especialy in the young surgeon, is
that the desire for fast financial gain
and visibility leads to sacrifice of the
quality of treatment and even to a
superindication? (please clarify the
use of the word superindication) of
surgical procedures.
I hope that in the next 20 years
standarts of education and training
will be widely applied in Brazil, with
discontinuing inadequate programs
and training modalities which still
exist today. Also, I hope that, with
good practices and standarts of care,
as well as less taxation and adoptio of
compliance measures, the use of new
technology, techniques and materials,
will make OMS a more suitable cost
and therefore more widely available
in this country.
Tell us about the first years of your
career
In the begining of my professional
career, which was in the early 1990’s,
I was hired as a teacher for the
Araraquara Dental School by the
São Paulo State University- UNESP
in the division of OMS. At the time,
I started to obtain the requirements
for an academic career. During the
first three years, I worked a lot,
teaching undergraduate students
with lectures and clinical practice.
At the same time, my clinical work
in the affiliated hospitals, involving
facial traumatology, dentoskeletal
deformities, tumors, reconstructions
and procedures was developed
under the supervision of highly
capable surgeons from our surgical
team. During that period I had
the opportunity of a one year
fellowship in a cleft patient
hospital. Four years after being
hired, I took the MSc program
in Periodontology and after that
the PhD program in Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery.
During that period and afterwards it
was possible to participate in many
national and international continuing
education courses in OMS. Among
those, several were eesential to
my education and professional
developement, such as several
courses promoted by AO and IBRA.
What is AO?
I became an AO faculty in 1996 and
this allowed me to get to know many
great surgeons in the specialty. It
was and still is very enlightening to
have the opportunity to learn from
them and to exchange individual
experiences. Later on I had the
opportunity of a fellowship in the
USA.
I am presently a full professor of
OMS, Head of the Department of
Diagnosis and Surgery and Director
of our Residence Program in OMS,
besides other administrative
functions at the university. I supervise
graduate students of our MSc and
PhD programs in Diagnosis and
Surgery. My current surgical activities
are in the areas of craniofacial
trauma, dentoskeletal deformities,
tumors, maxillofacial infections,
bone reconstruction, implants and
temporomandibular joint.
Has being a woman affected your
profession? – See edits to this
question on earlier profiles
Being a woman did not affect my
professional career. I have been able,
through years of dedication, to obtain
my professional space. Surgeons
with whom I interact, residents and
members of our surgical team treat
me with a lot of respect, where my
professional opinion and conduct
are well regarded. As for patients, I
never experienced a situation where
there was a lack of confidence in my
professional skills because I was a
woman.

Women in IAOMS
A Conversation with...
What was your model or
your inspiration to become a
maxillofacial surgeon?
I never set up a goal.
Everything in
my life led me here.
What qualities would you
recommend for a successful career
in OMFS?
Hard work, persistency, dedication
and love.
Any advice for younger women
entering the profession?
Never give up your dreams.
If OMS is
what you want, define a target and go
for it.
How do you manage your private
life, partner and family?
For me this was never an issue,
OMS is a wide embracing specialty;
it allows you to balance your private
and professional life.
Is it problem for your partner if you
are an OMS?
Not at all. He has always been very
supportive to me.
How do you see OMFS in Brazil in
20 years?
I see a developing country sharing
information with the world, mostly
due to the continuous improvement in
scientific and technological knowledge.
Tell us about the first years of your
career
It was hard in the beginning, because
the country was different back then
and so was OMS.
Has being a woman affected your
profession?
I faced training and financial
difficulties but I grew up in a family
that gave the same opportunities for
men and women, so being a woman
has never been an issue.
What was your model or your
inspiration to become a maxillofacial
surgeon?
I always admired the work of health
professionals and had a tendency
to seek a career in that field. Having
graduated from Dental School,
my greatest affinity was Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery, which became
my professional passion.
What qualities would you
recommend for a successful career
in OMS?
Dedication, commitment, continuous
learning; a theoretical foundation and
clinical knowledge.
Any advice for younger women
entering the profession?
Acquire knowledge and dedicate
yourself to your work. Professional
space is not obtained without
merit and this comes by showing
professional competence. Without
that, one becomes a disposable and
temporary fixture. Treat your pat
ients
with respect and honesty, regardless
of their social and economic
background.
How do you manage your private life,
partner and family?
My private life is dedicated to my
family. My son and daughter have
learned – since an early age -- that
their mother has an extensive working
schedule; they are used to spending
only part of their time with me.
However, the quality of the dedication
to them, when we were together, was
extremely important for them and
they hada positive view of my work
during childhood. Now, as adults, I
perceive that they are proud of my
work and see me as a role model.
Relationship with my husband was
always very easy.
What was your model or your
inspiration to become a maxillofacial
surgeon?
It dates back to when I studied abroad,
in the USA. My high school had a
professional orientation program that
allowed me to follow a maxillofacial
surgeon for a day. This profession has
its role to care for people and that
fascinated me. I knew right away what
I wanted to do for graduation. It was
love at first sight!
After that, my professors at a Brazilian
University were responsible for keeping
the flame lit by profession.
What qualities would you recommend
for a successful career in OMFS?
The first thing about doing any
profession is passion. When you do
something you love, everything tends to
get much easier. After that, commitment
to studying is mandatory because
without knowledge, it is impossible to
go further. The third quality is to have
the capacity to make quick decisions; a
surgeon cannot be indecisive.
Any advice for younger women
entering the profession?
Don´t give up! Even if this profession
seems to be mostly for guys, women
have their place in the front row. We
have about the same strength as men
plus a women´s sensibility. We can be
surgeons AND wives AND mothers.
We are able to fit all in our lives, we just
need to adjust our time!
How do you manage your private life,
partner and family?
Time is a matter of organization and
choice. It is possible to be a surgeon and
have a healthy private life. Of course,
you cannot fill up all hours of your
day with many jobs. Instead, you can
work nicely 40 hours per week without
sacrificing your personal life.
Is it a problem for your partner that
you are an OMS?
A real partner will want his soul mate
to be happy no matter the profession
she chooses. Thinking like that, I´m
very lucky, I have a real partner. My
profession does not bother him
because I´m able to share my time
so our relationship does not move to
a second plan. There is time for each
important thing in my life.
How do you see OMFS in Brazil in
20 years?
Brazil has worked very hard to get the
specialty strong. We have a very large
number of active surgeons who fight
for our profession in their own states.
Besides that, The Brazilian College of
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery works
very hard and has done a great job
showing the importance of Oral and
Maxillofacial Surveons to both the
population and the government.
Because of this panorama, I see
OMFS each year stronger and more
recognized overall.
What was your model or your
inspiration to become a maxillofacial
surgeon?
Unfortunately, in Brazil we are still
few woman in oral and maxillofacial
surgery. I didn’t know any senior
female surgeon during my entire
undergrad and residency time.
Therefore, I didn’t have a specific role
model when I decided to become a
surgeon myself. What led me to this
path was that I saw surgery as a way
to be able to lessen the pain and
suffering of others. My inspiration was
always the patient. I wanted to help
and to care for people.
What qualities would you recommend
for a successful career in OMFS?
In order to be a good surgeon, with
no doubt, one has to be responsible,
dedicated, resilient and studious. To
have a successful career, in my opinion,
the surgeon has also to show intuition,
empathy and to truly care for what
he/she does.
Any advice for younger women
entering the profession?
I will give an advice that an wise surgeon
gave me when I was entering the
profession as well, for which I am
very grateful for: Man and Woman are both capable, but they are
different indeed. Some of these
differences, which could be
seen as weaknesses, might be
in fact strengths. Sensibility and
kindness, for instance, are often
sought and very appreciated by
the patient.
How do you manage your private
life, partner and family?
During my OMFS training I had no
time for my private life at all. Now I
think I can organize my time better,
defining priorities and making
choices.
I am not a mother yet, but I plan
to have children. I must be honest
that this matter worries me
sometimes, since I do not know
how I will manage this additional
task. But I guess that is an issue for
all the full-time working mothers,
in every profession.
I think that
being an OMS does not make this
especially harder.
Is it a problem for your partner if
you are an OMS?
My partner is very enthusiastic and
dedicated to his work as well, and
me being an OMS is not a problem
for him.
He understands the importance
of my commitment to my patients
and admires my work. That makes
easier for him to deal with my busy
schedule or absence sometimes.
How do you see OMFS in Brazil in
20 years?
It is hard to answer this question
because Brazil is undergoing
big changes and challenges at
the moment, politically and
economically.
The Brazillian OMFS College and
many surgeons are engaged in
strengthening the specialty in our
country and abroad, and they have
been doing a great job.
But I am afraid that without a
proper healthcare policy that
much effort may not really change
the current scenario. The vast
majority of the Brazilian population
does not have access to an oral
and maxillofacial surgery service
nowadays. Without satisfactory
financial resource for the health
system, it is not possible to change
this situation and allow more people
to benefit from our service.
Our specialty has a lot to grow yet
and what I hope is that, in 20 years,
most of the public and private
hospitals have a OMFS service and
that we can really improve the quality
of life of our population at large.
What was your model or
your inspiration to become a
maxillofacial surgeon?
I chose this area of healthcare with
the intention to work to improve
the quality of life of the population
at large. I wanted to find a way to
make a difference, even if only on
a small or local scale. I was inspired
and attracted to surgery being part
of the overall healthcare ecosystem.
I have never had any specific role
model but always liked the idea
of teamwork and the interactions
with my team members is one of
the reasons I chose this profession.
Working shoulder to shoulder with
others, as a team, is not always
part of a daily routine in other
healthcare professions, which may
leave people feeling isolated.
What qualities would you
recommend for a successful
career in OMFS?
Without a question -- dedication,
personal effort, study and staying
on top of the latest developments
are qualities essential to being an
excellent surgeon. But a successful
career as a surgeon also depends
on having empathy, mindfulness and
caring about your patients. These
are qualities I try to invoke in myself
and practice on a daily basis.
Any advice for younger women
entering the profession?
This one applies to everybody,
regardless of gender – stay
connected to your human qualities,
because above all we are all humans
working with other humans. For
younger women in my profession, I
would say, try to avoid assigning every
error or difficulty that happena to the
fact that you are female. I sometimes
see some women in some situations
put themselves in the position of a
victim because of their gender or
allow themselves to be put in those
situations. This is a mistake, because
all of us, regardless of gender, find
ourselves in situations which can be
equally difficult whether you are male
or female.
How do you manage your private
life, partner and family?
Since the beginning of my career,
I have established two important
things. First are priorities, which must be defined and respected.
Secondly – dedicating adequate
amount of time separately for
realizing each priority. Using these
two concepts, we will be able to
better organize our daily tasks using
parameters of rationality, without
missing out on anything important.
Is it a problem for your partner if
you are an OMS?
I currently don’t have a partner. This
has been a personal choice that has
nothing to do with the fact that I am
an OMS.
How do you see OMFS in Brazil in
20 years?
For the profession as a whole, it is
difficult to make any predictions
because we live in a country that is
undergoing change all the time. On
the other hand, I certainly see the
OMFS profession being part of the
healthcare policy of our country
in the future, in an effort to build a
better nation.
I do have a hope, however, that
with every passing ay, more and
more professionals of my área
join the ranks who base their
professionalism on such qualities as
ethics and science.
As far as women in my profession
are concerned, I have seen their
numbers increasing from year to
year and believe that this trend will
continue in the future.
Tell us about the first years of your
career
I have always wanted to work in
surgery rooms as much as teaching
and researching. I clearly remember
my first years as a time of total
focus, dedication, often neglecting
my family and hobbies because
of the shortage of time, the time
when I was looking to create space
for these two passions of mine –
performing surgery and teaching.
Yet along with memories of sacrifice
and hard work, I also remember the
care and support of my colleagues
and professors who have helped
to make my journey a little easier.
Over time, as I have been able to
conquer these two areas, I also have
been able to bring balance to my
personal and professional lives.
Has being a woman affected your
profession?
Broadly speaking, I don’t believe
that being a woman has affected
my profession. The differences can
sometimes be seen in small details;
perhaps in a more emotional way
with some situations, which can
be a good thing and sometimes
not very much so. I believe there
are men and women of all types
but what we need the most these
days are professionals whofocus
on technical and scientific growth
within our professional area and
focus on improving the quality of
life of the general population. ■