The number of women attending dental schools is increasing so rapidly that the percentage in graduating classes is quickly approaching 50%. However, relatively few women are applying for training in oral and maxillofacial surgery. With the number of male dental students decreasing, we may thus find ourselves in the not too distant future with a situation in which there are insufficient quality graduates with the desire or aptitude to enter our specialty. It is therefore important that we try to find out why so many women reject a surgical career and what can be done to correct the matter. A recently published study 1 offers some insight into this question. Although it dealt with medical students, many of the findings seem to be applicable to dental students. In the study, a questionnaire was given to first-year students, third-year students, and a group of graduates about to enter a general internship. The first question that they were asked was “Do you already have a good idea about which specialty you would like to pursue as a career?” For males, 25% of the first-year subjects, 40% of the third-year subjects, and 79% of the intern group answered positively. The female responses were relatively similar, with 24% of the first-year subjects, 33% of the third-year subjects, and 63% of the interns answering positively. However, of those who responded affirmatively, males were more likely to have decided in favor of a surgical specialty, whereas females were more likely to have rejected such a choice. Moreover, this difference increased with the seniority of the respondents. The most frequent reason for rejecting a surgical career given by women who had already made up their minds was coded as “personal preference” by the authors based on such statements as “it is not for me.” This was followed by “negative attitudes of surgeons” as a reason, prompted by comments such as “arrogant surgeons” and “poor atmosphere to have to work in.” Other reasons included male bias, competition, and lifestyle. It is interesting that lifestyle, frequently cited as an important reason why women do not become oral and maxillofacial surgeons, did not rank high in this survey. Perhaps this is related to the fact that dentistry is generally considered a less demanding profession than medicine, and people entering the medical profession expect to make greater changes in their lifestyle. When asked to list specialties that they thought would be favorable or unfavorable to their gender, men generally rated general surgery and orthopedics as favorable and obstetrics and gynecology as unfavorable, while women considered general practice and obstetrics and gynecology as favorable and surgical specialties as unfavorable. The most frequent reason for perceiving the surgical specialties as unfavorable was given as male bias, involving such statements as “male dominated, sexist, and old boy network; females discouraged.” On the other hand, all of the male respondents who favored a surgical career cited male bias as a positive factor. In response to the question “Is there a doctor you particularly respect or admire or see as a role model?” 38% of the males and 46% of the females in the first-year group, 57% of the males and 63% of the females in the third-year group, and 67% of the males and 58% of the females in the intern group answered yes. However, it was noteworthy that for men, 100% of first-year students, 90% of third-year students, and 96% of interns had a male role model, whereas only 50%, 37%, and 40% of women, respectively, had female role models. Overall, 67% said that they would be encouraged to pursue their role model’s specialty, an indication of the importance of such persons. The factor most often cited as influencing this career choice was “enthusiastic teaching” and “friendliness of the teacher,” whereas “poor teaching” was a strong negative factor. The findings of this study suggest several strategies that could be used to increase the number of women who might choose oral and maxillofacial surgery as a