Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023 - 8

Editorial
generations were women. Having grown up with
a mother and grandmother who are orthodontists,
the grandson, Daniel Chee, said it was easy to see
the benefit of working in this specialty of dentistry.
There are a number of three-generation families in
the PCSO (Table 1). In addition to the Siu family from
the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and
the University of Southern California (USC), there are
also the Hambleton and Redmond families from USC.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, there is the West family
of UCSF and the Payne family from UCSF and the University
of the Pacific. Former PCSO President Howard
Hunt carried on his father's and grandfather's practice,
which was in operation for 106 years. However, unlike
your normal family business, orthodontics requires a
greater educational commitment. A total of 11 years
of postsecondary education is required, with the associated
costs of obtaining that education and the loss
of income while pursuing that education. Even with
these obstacles, a very high percentage of individuals
will follow in their parent's or relative's footsteps to
become an orthodontist. A recent review of alumni records
from the University of Washington's orthodontic
program showed that 12% of orthodontic graduates
had a relative, usually a parent, who was also an orthodontist.
I don't know how this percentage compares
with other areas in the health professions, but I would
like to think it is quite high. Children of physicians often
become physicians, and children of dentists often
become dentists. Even the children of Nobel Prize
winners occasionally follow a parent in receiving such
a distinction. And although being honored with the
Nobel Prize is one of the world's top honors, I might
argue that practicing orthodontics, especially with a
family member, is its own unique prize.
References
1. Schrader M. Scientist Who Decoded Neanderthal DNA
Wins Nobel Prize for Insights on Human Evolution. Los
Angeles Times. October 3, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/
science/story/2022-10-03/nobel-medicine-discoveriesextinct-hominims-evolution
2.
SC Johnson College of Business. Family business facts.
Accessed December 19, 2022. https://www.johnson.cornell.
edu/smith-family-business-initiative-at-cornell/resources/
family-business-facts/
3. Family Enterprise USA. Survey of Family Firms. Accessed
December 19, 2022. https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/
files/2011_Annual_Family_Business.pdf
4. Astrachan JH, Shanker MC. Family businesses' contribution
to the U.S. economy: A closer look. Fam Bus Rev
2003;16(3):211-219.
5. Conway Center for Family Business. Family Business
Facts. Accessed December 19, 2022. https://www.
familybusinesscenter.com/resources/family-business-facts/
6. Price Waterhouse Cooper. Family Business Survey. Accessed
December 19, 2022. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/
pwc-family-business-survey/assets/pwc-family-businesssurvey-2012.pdf
7.
Mass Mutual Financial Group, Kennesaw State University,
Family Firm Institute. American Family Business Survey.
Accessed December 19, 2022. https://www.massmutual.
com/mmfg/pdf/afbs.pdf
8. Connecticut Business and Industry Association, University
of Connecticut. Family Business Program Survey.
Accessed December 19, 2022. https://www.uvm.edu/sites/
default/files/2009UConnFamilyBusinessProgramandCBIA
Survey.pdf
Editor's note: It is fitting that in the same month the
United States Mint released a quarter dedicated to
the Hollywood trailblazer and international film star
Anna May Wong, the first Asian American on a United
States coin, the Bulletin honored the Annie and Tina
Siu family, an historic 3 generation family of orthodontists.
As profiled in last issue's " Portrait of a Professional "
column, written by Dr. Clarice Law,
Annie Siu was her own trailblazer
in orthodontics, being
the only woman, and only
person of Chinese descent,
in her dental school Class of
1954 from the University of
California at San Francisco.
8
PCSO Bulletin Winter 2023

https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/smith-family-business-initiative-at-cornell/resources/family-business-facts/ https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/2011_Annual_Family_Business.pdf https://www.familybusinesscenter.com/resources/family-business-facts/ https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/pwc-family-business-survey/assets/pwc-family-businesssurvey-2012.pdf https://www.massmutual.com/mmfg/pdf/afbs.pdf https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/2009UConnFamilyBusinessProgramandCBIA https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2022-10-03/nobel-medicine-discoveriesextinct-hominims-evolution

Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2023