In light of recent revelations about the sexual harassment faced by women in surgery, we decided to compile some good news for women in the profession.
In Australia, women dominate enrolment in medical degrees, but only 23.8% of those who go on to surgical training are women and only 9% of surgeons are women.
Whilst as a group they represent a small minority in the profession, there are many accomplished and impressive female surgeons in Australia. Highlighting their existence and achievements is important because it will provide aspiring surgeons – male or female – with role models.
Here are ten women who are leading their specialties in surgery, serving in some of Australia’s top hospitals and saving and improving lives through their profession. The list is not exhaustive so please feel free to add to it in the comments.
These are 10 #WomenToWatch in surgery, the first in a series we will run covering women to watch in different industries and fields.
Dr Gabrielle McMullin: Dr McMullin, who made headlines this week by speaking out against sexism in surgery, is a senior vascular surgeon in Sydney.
She specialises in endovascular procedures for arterial diseases. She studied medicine in Dublin, Ireland before moving to Australia and opening a practice in Sydney.
Dr McMullin has just launched a new book, called Pathways to Gender Equality: The role of merit and quotas which looks at strategies to overcome the barriers holding women back at work. She created some controversy at her book launch by saying: “What I tell my trainees is that, if you are approached for sex, probably the safest thing to do in terms of your career is to comply with the request.”
She later clarified that she had meant the comment to be ironic, and she intended to make a comment about the dangerous prevalence of sexism in surgery. It was brave and it has facilitated an important conversation about the need to change the mechanisms by which the surgical profession deals with sexual harassment.
Dr Jill Tomlinson: A plastic, reconstructive and hand surgeon, Dr Tomlinson studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and graduated as one of very few students to achieve first class honours in both surgery and medicine. She began her surgical career at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, and in the early years of her working life she also obtained a postgraduate diploma in surgical anatomy. In 2011, she was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Plastic and Reconstructivesurgery.
In 2012, she was appointed the Hand and Microsurgical Fellow at the largest trauma hospital in NSW, the John Hunter Hospital.
She is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Secretary of the Australian Federation of Medical Women and a committee member on the Victorian Medical Women’s Society.
“I became a doctor to help people. I believe that people have the right to be heard, the right to choose, and the right to participate in decisions about their health and wellbeing,” Tomlinson said.
“I believe that a surgeon’s role is to treat every patient with the same care and attention to detail that she would take with her own family members or friends.”
Associate Professor Kate Drummond: Associate Professor Kate Drummond is an accomplished neurosurgeon and neuro-oncologist. She is currently working as a neurosurgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and as an associate professor at the University of Melbourne.
She studied medicine at the University of Sydney before training as a neurosurgeon at Westmead Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital. She then undertook further training at Harvard University in the United States.
She has achieved great success both in surgical practice and in research. She currently co-edits the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience and is the sitting chair of the Women in Surgery Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
This week, when sexism in surgery made headlines, A/Prof Drummond revealed that she has been a victim of sexual harassment.
“I think once in 1992, I was subject to that, for a brief period … it was not particularly serious but it was definitely there,” she told the ABC.
“I think I was upheld … I went on to complete my training. I guess I was [concerned] at the time, perhaps a little bit frightened, but I still went ahead and did it,” she said.
“But it does happen, no-one is denying that it happens. [But] the advice that to speak out is a career-ending move is I think incorrect.”
Dr Claire Campbell: Dr Campbell is a vascular and endovascular surgeon who specialises in aortic and peripheral arterial surgery. Having spent so many years operating on vascular diseases that are lifestyle-related and often avoidable, such as those borne out of obesity, poor diet or smoking, Dr Campbell decided she needed to take action to better inform the public about the power of healthy eating to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Dr Campbell is involved with health organisation Eat Fit Food, which aims to educate and inspire people to think more closely about the food they eat and how it impacts their health. Dr Campbell speaks at Eat Fit Food events regularly, explaining to audiences how to think of “food as medicine”. She also practices as a surgeon in Richmond, Victoria.
Dr Mary Langcake: Dr Langcake is the sitting chair of the Royal Austalasian College of Surgeons and has had a decorated career in surgery. A trauma surgeon, she studied medicine at Flinders University and is now recognised as an expert in the field.
She has also worked as a military surgeon and has frontline experience in Afghanistan. When she is not deployed overseas in this capacity, she practices as a trauma surgeon in NSW. She has previously held the position of the Director of Trauma at St George Hospital in Sydney.
Dr Langcake came to medicine relatively late in life, commencing study after having her first son. Prior to this, she managed a Pizza Hut restaurant and ran a fiber–glass business. After graduating from medicine, she worked as a surgeon at Westmead Hospital until she enlisted in the RAAF in 2006.
“I’d been interested in humanitarian work, and during the course of my training it seemed to me that defence had the ability to respond very quickly. The public hospital system allowed me to have a career that will always sustain me, so my joining defence was in a sense a way of being able to pay that back and have the opportunity to be involved in that humanitarian work,” she told the AMA Victoria.
“There’s an incredible trust that patients give you as a doctor – they are putting themselves in your hands…That’s a real honour when people do that.”
Dr Carolyn Cho: Dr Cho is an accomplished breast surgeon based in Canberra and is also an associate professor of epidemiology at the Australian National University. She began her career in Newcastle, and was soon appointed a Fellow in Breast and Endocrine Surgery at a hospital in South Australia. She was then offered a second Fellowship that allowed her to move back to Canberra. Next, she moved to London to practice as a Fellow in Sarcoma and Melanoma Surgery at the Royal Marsden Hospital.
Dr Cho says she knew she wanted to specialise in surgery very early on.
“Since I was a third year medical student in my very first surgical bedside tutorial, I have wanted to be a surgeon. Indeed, I have never considered any alternatives,” she said.
Dr Cho has also recognised that surgery is still a very difficult profession for women to enter.
“When I first expressed an interest in surgery as a junior doctor, there were very few female surgical trainees,” she said “I have had the displeasure of working for male surgeons who did not allow me to perform any surgery because I was female. I have experienced bullying and harassment by male surgeons whose only intent was to be malicious towards female trainees.”
Dr Cho says her advice is to ignore the harassment as best you can, put your head down and work hard so you cannot be criticised professionally.
During her decorated career, Dr Cho has been on the board of the Cancer Council ACT, the chair of the Breast CancerTreatment Group and is the current chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Regional Committee and is the current Designated Surgeon at ACT Breastscreen.
Dr Jane O’Brien: Dr O’Brien is an accomplished breast and oncoplastic surgeon in Melbourne. She specialises in breast cancer related surgeries, and uses new innovative technologies to maximise the aesthetic result of breast surgery. She also specialises in researching and treating genetic breast cancers in young women.
As well as being a practicing surgeon, Dr O’Brien frequently gives talks and keynote addresses about the decisions patients need to make in the face of a breast cancer diagnosis. She gives specialist advice on types of mastectomies, as well as decisions between mastectomies and chemotherapy.
She currently works at the Epworth Breast Service in Melbourne.
Associate Professor Julie Mundy: A/Prof Mundy is an accomplished cardiothoratic surgeon based in Queensland. She is currently the Director of the Cardiothoratic Surgery Unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in southern Queensland, which recently reached a milestone by performing is 10,000th cardiac surgery.
“Achieving 10,000 operations in the 15 year history of this unit is a great achievement considering how many more patients we are able to treat now compared to the early days,” A/Prof Mundy said when the hospital reached the milestone.
Mundy is also an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Queensland. She is the sitting chair of the Professional Standards committee at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Dr Sally Butchers: Dr Butchers is a general surgeon based in Lismore in NSW. She has a decorated career working as a surgeon in rural NSW, and is the sitting chair of the Rural Committee at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
She worked in Glasgow and Portsmouth after completing her fellowship in general surgery and worked as a Visiting Medical Officer with the North Coast Area Health Service. She is a dedicated member of the surgical community in Lismore, as a member of the Lismore Base HospitalTheatre Management Committee as well as the Trauma Committee, and assists with the Lismore Breast Screening unit.
She is also dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer in the area.
Dr Emily Granger: Dr Granger is a cardiothoracic and lung/heart transplant surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. She studied medicine at the University of Queensland, graduating in 1997. Alongside her position at St Vincent’s, she is the Network Director of Basic Surgical Trainees and a Clinical Lecturer at the University of New South Wales. She also studied at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, UK before returning to Sydney to take up her post as a Consultative Cardiothoracic Surgeon at St Vincent’s. As well as lecturing at the University of New South Wales, she teaches young doctors about surgical practice through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Dr Granger is concerned about the lack of women in surgery.
“We have approximately 100 cardiac surgeons in Australia, and about eight are female,” she told Fairfax Media.
But she does think there is hope for the situation to improve as workplaces and fellow surgeons better understand the importance of flexibility for working mothers.
“But that’s changing; there are more females training now. People are more understanding when it comes to maternity leave – or paternity leave,” she said.
Dr Granger said she has managed to balance her busy operating schedule with parenting her young daughters.
“Generally, at least one day a week I can do the kindy drop-off and pick up, and I try most nights to get home in time to put the girls to bed,” she said.
Dr Granger loves transplant surgery because it allows her to give patients a new lease on life.
“All of a sudden, this patient who’s been wobbling around has almost got headaches because their blood pressure is so good. It’s absolutely amazing,” she said.