An article about my Tante Rachel and her visit to U.S. from Norway in 1950
The following article is from the March 26, 1950 edition of the Rochester, NY Democrat and Chronicle
A D.D.S. From Toensberg, Norway
A woman dentist from Norway and a youngster from the U. S. are not an unusual combination at the Eastman Dental Dispensary, where Dr. Rachel Jullum has practiced since last August.
15 Years a Practitioner
Women as Dentists Not Unusual in Norway,
Says Dr. Rachel Jullum, Studying Here
By ROSEMARY MOORE
THERE’S only one deceiving thing about Dr. Rachel Jullum.
And that’s her age.
You could guess her Scandinavian birth without the assistance of name or accent, relying on her wholesomeness, disarming and enveloping smile. But what you wouldn’t call is the fact that she’s been practicing dentistry in Norway for 15 years. Born in Toensberg, Norway, she entered the Oslo University School of Dentistry as the most natural course in the world. Her cousin was a dentist, so were several of her friends. So Rachel became one too. In her hesitant yet proficient English, she explains that women dentists are far more common in her country than in ours.
About one to two, she guesses as the ratio to men. They employ the same educational system and equally modern equipment as the United States, and she was quite surprised at a woman dentist being anything but commonplace. They have been in Norway, she blinked, for over fifty years.
This is the 26th in a series of articles designed for the girl with a career In mind.
After receiving her degree as a doctor of dentistry. she set up her practice in one of the many school dental clinics that are often combined with medical. Her work is entirely with children exactly as she wished it to be. Despite their instability in a dentist’s chair, she prefers caring for youngsters and intends to resume her practice on her return home in August.
DR. JULLUM arrived in Rochester last August after being accepted via mail by the Eastman Dental Dispensary. She had known about it well in advance of acceptance – through friends who recommended the dispensary as a means of advanced research and training. Her stay, like all others, is for one year. during which time she hears and gives lectures, studies and practices in the impressively large clinic which handles children up to 17 years of age. – this latter being one of the points that sold Dr. Jullum.
She averages about eight appointments per day, depending on the number of working staff, and those taken up with study. Most of the children are sent by schools.
BESIDES OFFERING a combination of practice and research the clinic serves as its own miniature melting pot. According to Dr. Jullum’s calculations, other women dentists interning there include three Cubans. one Chinese. one Filipino, one Hindustani and another D.D.S. from Norway.
Regarding the place of a woman dentist in America, Dr. Jullum is sketchy about the world beyond the clinic. “Here we are made to feel quite at home. Not the least bit unusual. On the outside, it may be different. We get a hint of it from the children. The littlest ones are happy. They are so relieved at getting a woman they almost relax. The older ones? It’s different. They’ve been conditioned to men and they’re distressed. But they get over it.”
IT’S THE SAME OLD STORY, according to Rachel’s observations, of proving yourself and letting the public catch up.
Her most bewildering experiences were during the first month of arrival She had been taught English in Norway since the sixth grade but it wasn’t quite workable enough. Making children at ease in a dentist’s chair was a bit awkward with language as a handicap, but one that she wasn’t long in alleviating.
Whether Rachel is happy or not, she acts happy. She feeds out the robust cheerfulness of her native land in doses just large enough to be appealing and not enough to be overwhelming. She listens to questions with her head cocked and answers with refreshing honesty.
To her, women in dentistry are as natural as women teachers.
In June, she leaves for California, and in August for Norway and home, where she’ll again practice in a school clinic with the added advantage of a year in the States where he finds the training top-rung, and the public a little skeptical