Medical Woman – Magazine Centenary Issue, April 2017 by The Magazine Production Company

MEDICAL WOMAN

100 Years of Women in Medicine Vol 36, Issue 1

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

A message from

HRH The Queen

A message from

HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, GCVO

As Patron of the Medical Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Federation for the last 35 years, it gives me great pleasure to endorse this Centenary Souvenir Edition of Medical Woman. The medical women featured are an inspiration to those who wish to follow a career path into the world of medicine. I hope you will enjoy reading their journey of achievement in this memorable edition.

A message from

The Prime Minister Rt Hon Theresa May, MP

As you celebrate your centenary year, it gives me great pleasure to extend my warm congratulations and good wishes to everyone at Medical Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Federation and all the women doctors you represent. Over the last century, the MWF has tackled some of the major health issues of the day, ranging from the position of medical women engaged in war work to the availability of birth control information. Your work is as relevant and important now as it has ever been. By providing a voice and platform for women doctors, the MWF is helping to drive greater equality in the medical profession. Your established network is encouraging women to excel in their careers and deliver excellent care to their patients. Simply put, our NHS would not survive without the extraordinary service of the women doctors who work in it. I am grateful for the things you do, every day, for the health and wellbeing of our country. I wish the MWF every success for its second century.

A message from

MWF President, Professor Parveen Kumar CBE

This is an amazing collection of women who have achieved so much. It outlines the path they have taken in their chosen careers and shows how determination, hard work and courage to tackle obstacles can lead to success in the profession. All of the doctors featured in this special edition of Medical Woman show the varied ways in which women can reach the top of their game and it gives me great pleasure to share this with you in MWFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landmark centenary year.

Editorial

hether they have changed policy, discovered genes, repaired aneurysms, or are active politicians, women have shaped the face of medicine and made enormous contributions, often with little or no recognition. It is impossible to compare the successes of someone who compassionately tells our patients they have cancer with that of a person who performs pioneering neck surgery. Yet these jobs are equally important and vital for the patients we serve.

Medical Woman, produced by the Medical Women’s Federation Editor-in-Chief: Miss Jyoti Shah (missjshah@gmail.com) MWF Office Manager & Centenary Events Coordinator: Ms Anji Thomas Communications & Administration Officer: Miss Sarah McLoughlin MEDICAL WOMEN’S FEDERATION Tavistock House North, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HX Tel: 020 7387 7765 E-mail: admin.mwf@btconnect.com www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk @medicalwomenuk www.facebook.com/MedWomen Patron: HRH The Duchess of Gloucester GCVO President: Professor Parveen Kumar CBE President-Elect: Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones Vice-President: Dr Olwen Williams OBE Honorary Secretary: Dr Clare Gerada MBE Honorary Treasurer: Dr Heidi Mounsey Design & Production: The Magazine Production Company www.magazineproduction.com

Medical Woman: © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher. A reprint service is available. Great care is taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this publication, but Medical Woman cannot be held responsible for its content. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Publisher.

Front Cover: Images of MWF Presidents

In this landmark centenary year for MWF, we have produced a souvenir edition of Medical Woman that pulls together some of the brightest and most respected female doctors in our profession. Despite the many thousands of female doctors quietly working away and making a difference, this list celebrates the journeys of the more well known and is by no means a definitive or exhaustive list. We would like to stress that this list represents a fraction of the most influential women in modern medicine. We have a tendency to think that successful people are just ready-made and plucked out of the ground that way. However, everyone has a career journey and history. And, en route many have faced great obstacles, the ridicule of their peers or the animosity of society. Their badges of success disguise how these amazing women survived. This issue profiles 80 remarkable women and their journeys. We learn that sometimes their mistakes were just the first step towards their success. Over the past few months whilst writing these biographies, I have felt humbled and inspired in equal measure. I must thank my patient husband who has found me slumped over a computer screen every evening and weekend since this project started. I think it was worth it – I hope you do, too. The Royal stamp of support from Her Majesty the Queen, our Patron the Duchess of Gloucester and the Prime Minister have made this issue that much more special. I have thoroughly enjoyed compiling this edition of Medical Woman, which will be my last, as my tenure as Editor-in-Chief comes to an end. I hope you enjoy it and treasure it, as I know I will.

Jyoti Shah, Editor-in-Chief Contact me: missjshah@gmail.com @missjyotishah

Miss Rozina Ali

MD FRCS(Plast) MBBS BSc

Consultant Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeon, Norfolk and Norwich Miss Rozina Ali is a high profile microvascular Plastic Surgeon with an interest in breast reconstruction. Born and raised in a working-class family in inner-city Liverpool, she announced to her parents at a very young age that she wanted to be a surgeon. Encouraged by her family and school, she succeeded in fulfilling her dreams and is now also a television producer. In fact, Rozina’s greatest inspiration comes from her father, who is her role model and mentor, and whom she describes as wise, kind and humble. Rozina went to St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School and obtained a first class intercalated BSc in Anatomy. She regards this achievement, so early in her medical career, as her proudest one. Rozina qualified in 1992. One of her first surgical jobs was as a House Officer, and it was her then Consultant (a colorectal surgeon) who guided her steps into plastic surgery. She then undertook her postgraduate surgical training at several London teaching hospitals, as well as speciality units including the Craniofacial unit at Great Ormond Street and the Burns unit at Billericay. With her hallmark ‘dedication and focus’, Rozina won the prestigious Stephen Kroll Scholarship to study microvascular breast reconstruction in Belgium. In 2006, she was awarded the International Microsurgery Fellowship to study microvascular reconstructive surgery in Taiwan. She left her training rotation and home in London and spent a year totally immersed in the exotic culture of Taiwan, which she sees her best career decision. She was awarded a British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAPS) European Scholarship and the Cutler’s Surgical Fellowship from the Worshipful Company of Cutlers. Rozina conducted research into innate skin defence mechanisms at the Centre for Cutaneous Research, University of London, and in 2007 was awarded an MD. In 2008, Rozina realised that there was a great demand for medical aesthetics and became interested in whether it was possible to slow down the appearance of ageing. She was appointed a Consultant at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and divides her time between there and her London private practice. Regarded as a key opinion leader in her field, Rozina travels extensively to teach and lecture. She has contributed to some of the major international plastic surgery and breast surgery textbooks. Her first foray into media involved filming and editing a Royal College of Surgeons training video on ‘Core Skills in Plastic Surgery’, which led to greater media opportunities. In 2012, she presented the BBC2 Horizon documentary ‘The Truth About Looking Young’ followed shortly after by being the expert presenter of Channel 4’s 2013 sixpart series ‘How Not To Get Old’. She contributed to the associated book. Since then she has been active in the popular press and industry literature, delivered her first TEDx talk on the power of self-image and was invited to become a Huffington Post blogger.

* Favourite Book: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini * Three objects Rozina cannot live without: Car, Smart phone, Passport – the essential items that allow me independence, communication and connectivity

Rozina’s advice to junior doctors is “Appreciate the moment – enjoy and savour every single minute of your training. This is the real deal and the nitty gritty of medical life is in the learning.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Jane Anderson

Centenary Souvenir

CBE

Director of the Centre for the Study of Sexual Health & HIV, and Honorary Consultant Physician in HIV, London Professor Jane Anderson is a Consultant Physician at Homerton University Hospital and considered a key opinion leader in the field of HIV. Jane always wanted to be a doctor but did not do well in her A ‘levels and lost her provisional place at Guy’s in 1971. As a result, she trained as a nutritionist and gained her PhD in 1979.

Despite the fact that all of her friends had ‘proper’ jobs and thought her mad, Jane persevered with her ambition to become a doctor – her best career move. She qualified from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in 1984, just at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and has never looked back. She has been involved in the care of people with HIV ever since. Following training posts at Northwick Park, St. Mary’s and the Middlesex Hospitals, she was appointed a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Immunolog y at St. Ba r t holome w’s Hospit a l in 1990, and an Honorary Consultant Physician at Homerton University Hospital. With her colleagues, Jane established a dedicated HIV specialist unit, the first in East London. In 2004, Jane set up the Centre for the Study of Sexual Health and HIV at Homerton Hospital in Hackney, where she continues to work both as a clinician and researcher in HIV medicine. She has a special interest in the treatment and care of women with HIV of migrant and minority ethnic communities, and the psychosocial aspects of HIV care in the UK. Over the years Jane has met many women living with or affected by HIV, who have been patients, activists, teachers and colleagues. Their approach to life, with all its complications, has had an enormous influence on Jane, both professionally and personally. She was a member of the British HIV Association and took on the role of Chair of this organisation from 2011-2013. She stepped down when she was seconded to Public Health England’s National Health and Wellbeing Team as an Expert Adviser and Lead for HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health from 2013-2016.

For over twenty years, Jane has successfully worked with some of the most vulnerable and hard to reach patient populations in east London and was deservedly awarded a CBE in 2015. She currently C h a i r s P u bl ic He a lt h England’s External Advisory Group for HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Partnership Group for Sexual Assault Referral Centres. She represents London clinicians on the NHS England Clinical Reference Group for HIV and is Chair of the National AIDS Trust. Jane is also a Visiting Fellow at The King’s Fund and serves as a Court Assistant of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in the City of London. She holds honorary appointments at St. Bartholomew’s, the London School of Medicine & Dentistry and at University College London. Despite her ma ny extraordinary achievements, Jane is most proud of the Jonathon Mann Centre for HIV at Homerton Hospital, which delivers an integrated clinical, social and peer support service to people with and affected by HIV. She is also enormously proud of her husband, a former barrister and TV wit, Clive Anderson, and their three children despite her regret that she has not spent enough time with them. She has learnt and understood the importance of enjoying the here and now – “time is a finite commodity, and it passes too fast,” she says. * Favourite Film: Dr Zhivago for love, loss, politics, history, visual beauty and stunning music that withstands the test of time * Three objects Jane cannot live without: Family photo album, Mobile phone, Kettle

Jane’s advice to junior doctors is “Do your utmost to separate the experience of being a doctor, which is (mostly) amazing, from the experience of being ‘in the system’ which may not be!”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Dame Sue Bailey

DBE FRCPsych

Chair of The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Professor Dame Sue Bailey was born in a northern mill town and was grammar school educated as a result of a scholarship. She comes from a long line of women whom she describes as being more intelligent than herself, but whose circumstances, even if they passed the exam to get into grammar school, meant that they could either not afford to go, or had to look after the family. Her initial ambition was to read history and politics at university.

Sue was brought up in a nurturing but ‘working class’ family and lived opposite a medical superintendent of what would then have been the local county asylum. She started visiting and getting involved, and became fascinated with the world of psychiatry and mental health. Although her family moved to Watford, London, Sue wanted to go back north and got into the University of Manchester Medical School. She qualified in 1973 and had already decided on a career in psychiatry, which she describes as her best career move. Influenced by two wonderful psychiatrists, a child psychiatrist and a forensic psychiatrist, whose beliefs were about being able to help people in the most difficult of positions, Sue developed an interest in young people who have committed crimes or are at risk of doing so. She was appointed a Consultant Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatrist in the early 1980s in Greater Manchester and appeared as an expert witness in the James Bulger murder trial. “Right time, right place, supportive mentors (all male) and blessed with always having worked as part of excellent multidisciplinary teams, both clinical and academic, have enabled me to develop, deliver and evaluate child and adolescent forensic mental health services locally, nationally and internationally,” she says. Sue was appointed Professor of Child Mental Health at the University of Central Lancashire and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at the University of Surrey in 2002. Sue has held many senior positions at the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) including Chair of the Child and Adolescent Faculty for four years, and Registrar. In 2002, Sue was awarded an OBE for services to youth justice. In 2011, she was elected President of the RCPsych, and until this time had kept a relatively low profile because the children she worked with were mainly young offenders who had committed serious acts of violence to others. During her time as President, she worked with health and social care professionals, patients and carers to help bring about Parity of Esteem between mental and physical health which is now enshrined in Primary Legislation in England, in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. This is her proudest achievement. Sue is Senior Clinical Advisor for Mental Health and Learning Disability for Health Education England and took up the position of Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in 2015. Sue

has always believed in the importance of family and describes her role at the Academy as a wider family. “Working for Heath Education England matters a great deal to me because the NHS is its workforce. I have always worked in collaboration with the voluntary sector and advocate strongly for shared decision making with patients,” she says. Sue was honoured with a DBE for services to psychiatry and voluntary service to people with mental health conditions in 2014. * Favourite Song: Bohemian Rhapsody * Three objects Sue cannot live without: Garden Fork, Microwave, Blackberry

Sue’s advice to junior doctors is “Always listen to the disease of your patient.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Maureen Baker

CBE DM FRCGP

Chair of International, Royal College of General Practitioners The immediate Past-Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners wanted to be a nun as a young girl. Inspired by The Sound of Music, she fancied running through the alpine meadows, singing as she went. Instead, she became a doctor and in 2015 was considered the 39th most influential person in the NHS.

A Scot who has spent most of her working life in Lincolnshire, Maureen was born in North Lanarkshire and is the first doctor in her family. She is the eldest daughter of a steelworker father, who later joined the ambulance service. Her mother was a teacher, and she draws inspiration from her mother and her grandmother. Maureen’s grandmother was a determined and feisty woman who was married to a coal miner and widowed in the 1940s with four young daughters. With no help from anyone else, she ensured that all four girls went on to higher education and became school teachers, which was a major achievement in those days. As well as being smart and witty, her grandmother had a wonderful and unique way with words, which Maureen finds herself using on most days. Her mother, who seems to have inherited this determined and hardworking gene, worked as a teacher while bringing up six children. Maureen has been a GP since 1985 and has worked all her professional life in GP surgeries around Lincoln. Her long marriage with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) started at a very early stage in her career, and she has since held many roles there, including being elected as Chair from November 2013 for three years. Of her many achievements, Maureen is most proud of this role. Prior to this, she was Honorary Secretary of the RCGP from 1999 for a decade, and in that time, she led the profession’s input into emergency and pandemic planning and the response to the swine flu pandemic of 2009. Under her Chairmanship, Maureen launched a nationwide campaign, ‘Put Patients First: Back the General Practice’ that successfully made a case for the need to reverse the underfunding

and understaffing in general practice. This also led to the publication of the General Practice Forward View by NHS England. She was instrumental in bringing together the Primary Care Workforce Partnership between RCGP, NHS England, Health Education England and the General Practitioners Committee to implement the ten-point plan for general practice. As a junior doctor who had been on call overnight, Maureen erroneously gave intravenous penicillin to a patient with a similar name to the patient for whom it was intended. She had only slept for an hour that night. Although no harm had come to the patient, she was horrified at her mistake and believes this is what sparked her subsequent interest in human factors and patient safety. Maureen has held appointments with the National Patient Safety Agency, NHS Direct and the University of Nottingham, where she achieved her Doctorate of Medicine (DM). Her work in patient safety includes establishing a formal clinical safety management system for NHS Connecting for Health, the development of safety standards for Health IT for the NHS in England, and the development of e-learning modules on patient safety for doctors in training. Maureen has contributed to over fifty journal and book publications and received a CBE for services to medicine in 2004. In 2014, she was named the UK’s most influential GP by Pulse. * Favourite Song: Just want to dance the night away by The Mavericks – it’s so cheerful! * Three objects Maureen cannot live without: Handbag, iPad, Phone

Maureen’s advice to junior doctors is “Be sure you look after yourself to keep you and your patients safe.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Virginia Barbour Chair of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and Executive Director, Australasian Open Access Strategy Group Dr Virginia Barbour is the Executive Director of the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group, based in Brisbane, Australia. She made a unique and successful move from clinical medicine into editing. Ginny was born in Virginia – hence the name Virginia – when her father was on secondment with the family from the British Navy.

She studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and then studied medicine at Universit y College London a nd Midd le sex Hospita ls, specialising in haematology. She spent several years doing research at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford. She then undertook post-doctoral work at St Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Although she enjoyed both clinical work and doing research, she realised that she was not cut out to be a scientist in the long term. Her first medical editing job came about serendipitously and having started it, Ginny felt that she could have the most effect personally as an Editor, especially with the opportunity at that time to make open access to academic publishing a reality. Taking up this first editing post was her best career decision and one that has subsequently opened up many other doors for her. Ginny admits that she has never been very good at looking ahead and planning and has been fortunate that she has been in the right place at the right time. She believes that there have been times over the years when she should have taken a step back and considered the next step. She has learnt to do that now. In 1999, Ginny joined the Lancet as Molecular Medicine Editor and became aware of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Lancet was a member of COPE and the Editor-inChief, Richard Horton, was one of COPE’s founding members. Ginny left the Lancet in 2004, to join the Public Library of Science (PLOS) and was invited to join COPE’s Council. Around the same time, Ginny became interested in PLOS and open access when she became aware that the Internet allowed the opportunity to radically rethink how medical and scientific information could be disseminated and built on – and that traditional publishers were slow to recognise this opportunity. She was one of the three editors who started PLOS Medicine and she had her first real exposure to

COPE even before PLOS Medicine had published its first issue. They had received a problematic paper and Ginny was grateful for the opportunity to seek the advice of more experienced Editors on how to handle it. Ginny was PLOS Medicine’s first Chief Editor, and in 2012, she combined that role with Medicine Editorial Director for PLOS – overseeing the three medical journals from PLOS – finally becoming Medicine and Biology Editorial Director of PLOS from 2014-2015. Ginny is incredibly proud of starting PLOS Medicine as a revolutionary new model of disseminating academic information, and one the journals that got open access taken seriously early on. She has held many senior roles within COPE including Council Member from 2005-2010, Secretary from 2010-2012, and Chair from 2012-present. She is currently serving her second term as Chair. She is also Director of the World Association of Medical Editors and has been involved in a number of reporting guidelines. She is on the steering group of the AllTrials initiative and is Adviser to a number of publishing and ethics initiatives. Following her move to Australia, Ginny has a joint appointment as Professor between the Office of Research Ethics and Integrity, and the Library, Division of Technology at Queensland University of Technology. She has an academic title as Professor at Griffith University, Queensland and is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland. * Favourite Film: Fargo. It has a great female lead and other characters that span all of human idiocy and kindness with a fabulous plot * Three objects Ginny cannot live without: Contact lenses, iPhone, Good sharp knife for cooking

Ginny’s advice to junior doctors is “Have an open mind, and pay attention to everyone around you, especially those you disagree with. We have to be prepared to be open-minded, to challenge dogmas and to stand up firmly for what we believe in and we can’t do that if we only listen to and read those who we agree with.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Anna Batchelor

Centenary Souvenir

Consultant in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Past-President, Intensive Care Society, Dr Anna Batchelor is an Anaesthetist and Intensivist in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She is Past-President of the Intensive Care Society (ICS) and always wanted to be a doctor. Coming from a working-class family with no medical background, she was determined to get into medical school. She did not give up when she missed out on entry by a grade in her Chemistry A ‘level. In fact, she has learnt that in challenging times, you should “keep calm and carry on.”

That is what exactly she did and Anna re-took her chemistry exam. She sees this as one of her best decisions in life. Anna graduated from Sheffield and after her house jobs spent a year as a GP trainee in Ambleside, in the Lake District. She then returned to Sheffield and started her anaesthetic training, with Registrar posts in Leicester and a Senior Registrar job in Newcastle. Anna was one of the first Joint Accreditation Committee in Intensive Therapy (JACIT) trainees and was appointed a Consultant at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle in 1993. Her anaesthetic interests include patients for endocrine, gastro-intestinal and burns and reconstructive surgery. Anna has held many educational leadership roles including Local Educational Advisor and Regional Advisor for training in Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) where she established the Northern Region ICM training scheme. She also co-created the Training for Transfer course and audits have shown that this course has improved the quality of Northern Region

inter-hospital transfers of critically ill patients. Anna was a member of the Intercollegiate Board for Training in ICM from 2002-2010 and in 2011, she co-Chaired the development of the CCT curriculum for training in ICM that was approved by the General Medical Council as well as the ICM component of the anaesthesia curriculum. In 2000, Anna was elected to the Council of the ICS and served as President of the Society from 2005-2007. During her time at the ICS, she worked with the Department of Health to produce frameworks for training Advanced Critical Care Practitioners (ACCP) in the UK, in what she believes is her greatest achievement. These are health workers who have undertaken a two-year MSc programme and are now working on junior doctor rotas in the country’s intensive care units. In time, Anna led the production of a new curriculum for ACCP training, and there are now over 100 ACCPs in the UK. Anna was elected to the Council of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2008 and was nominated as a Member of the Foundation Board of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine in 2010. From 2013-2016, Anna served as Dean of the Faculty of ICM and was successful in gaining membership of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges for the new Faculty, thereby allowing ICM to be represented as a separate speciality. She also represents the UK training scheme at the European CoBaTrICE Faculty, an international Competency Based Training programme in Intensive Care Medicine for Europe and other world regions. Anna is Head of her department and Chair of the Regional Critical Care Committee that established a regional bed bureau, got units talking to each other and preceded the development of critical care networks. Since demitting office as Dean, Anna has been elected Chair of the Critical Care Leadership Forum, which brings together the multiple professions who work in ICM. Anna had her first and only child at the age of 48 years. * Favourite Film: Star Trek IV The Voyage Home (I’m a Treckkie!) * Three objects Anna cannot live without: Hearing aids (my familial hearing that was getting worse has been revolutionised with these), Poly Tunnel to grow stuff in Northumberland, Phone (to stay in touch with family and friends and I’m a Twitter addict!)

Anna’s advice to junior doctors is “Medicine is absolutely the best job in the world. Somewhere, there is a niche into which you will fit perfectly. Do not allow the system to shoehorn you into the wrong niche. Being a square peg in a round hole leads to stress and burnout and patients won’t benefit from what you have to offer.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Jackie Bene

MBChB FRCP

Chief Executive and Consultant Physician, Bolton Dr Jackie Bene is a rarity. She is a doctor who is serving as a Trust Chief Executive but continues to practise clinically, holding a weekly session as a Consultant Physician. Jackie’s earliest ambition was to be an undercover detective. Instead, she entered medicine and qualified in 1988 from Sheffield.

She moved to Cornwall for her first job in a move she regards as the best career decision she has ever made. She so loved the idyllic setting that she spent the first three years of her medical career there. She moved again to train in elderly medicine in the North West and was appointed Consultant Physician in Bolton in 1998 – just ten years after she had qualified. Jackie learnt very early in her career the importance of the relationship between well-developed, motivated and engaged staff and excellent patient outcomes. She has also learnt to “double, triple check all the basic facts, notes and ID before imparting any new information to patients,” regardless of how busy she is. Breaking bad news to the wrong patient as a junior doctor was the biggest mistake of her career and one that has had a lasting and irreversible effect on her relationship with her patients. Gaining extensive experience, Jackie undertook a succession of senior management and leadership roles before being appointed as Medical Director (MD) in 2008. Years later she became Acting Chief Executive but was forced to temporarily step aside during a probe into data recording at the Trust. She returned to her MD role, exonerated, while the Trust went through a turbulent and uncertain period. However, Jackie did not shy away from this difficult time. In a show of determination, she demonstrated her staying power and true resilience when she was appointed permanent Chief Executive in 2014. Jackie was the popular choice amongst staff and governors with widespread praise for her patient-centred approach to leading the hospital, her effective communication and visibility around the hospital. She proudly admits that she is most inspired by all the staff she works with who demonstrate “so much compassion, commitment and tonnes of discretionary effort, all in the name of good patient care.” Later in 2014, Jackie was listed as one of the Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) Top 50 Inspirational Women in the NHS. The judges’ comments were that “she leads with a calmness that inspires confidence. She also has the ability to communicate at all levels within the organisation and is a highly supportive leader.” In 2015, Jackie was shortlisted for the HSJ’s CEO of the Year award and in 2016 was one of the HSJ’s Top 50 Chief Executives. “You need resilience in buckets in this job” she once told a local newspaper, and as her Trust is now in the top 25% of Trusts rated ‘good’ by the CQC from a red rating only four years ago, Jackie clearly has just that.

* Favourite Book: To Kill a Mocking Bird * Three objects Jackie cannot live without: iPhone, iPad, iPod!

Jackie’s advice to junior doctors is “Walk in your patient’s shoes as early as possible in your career – the insight will never leave you and will enhance your practice enormously.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Dame Beulah Bewley Emeritus Reader in Public Health Sciences, University of London, and (Retired) Public Health Consultant

Dame Beulah Bewley was born into an upper-middle-class family, the second daughter of Ulster Bank Official John Knox and wealthy heiress Ina Charles, in 1929. Brought up in a patriarchal Northern Irish society, Beulah lived in a spacious Edwardian house with a nanny, a cleaner and even a chauffeur. Although her mother had a private income from her father, it was looked after by Beulah’s father because at that time women were not considered savvy enough to know what to do with the money.

As a child, Beulah thought that she would marry a clergyman and be a great musician. She also dreamed of being a doctor. Naturally, such an announcement in those times was met with resistance and Beulah recalls her Uncle Joe suggesting that she do dentistry so that she could meet a husband and have children. “Dentistry would be more suitable for a nice girl like you,” he told her. Beulah regarded her childhood illnesses such as, when she had measles, cycled into a wall and injured her face because she did not wear her ‘huge glasses’ that she did not like (she was short-sighted) and when she had her appendicectomy, as positive experiences. “I kept saying to myself that it was all good experience for me because I knew that I wanted to be a doctor, and any dealings I had with professionals would be useful,” she says. Inspired by her spinster aunt who said “No woman should be entirely dependent on a man,” Beulah ignored her uncle’s advice and went to Trinity College, Dublin to study medicine. In her autobiography, she talks about her two boyfriends, Mervyn the much older solicitor from Sligo, and David the dental student from Dublin and that the long distance between the two, facilitated both relationships. “It was easy to juggle these two men,” she writes in her book. However, she ended up marrying

Thomas, a fellow medical student, in 1955. Her best decision was choosing a supportive husband. Beulah qualified in 1953, and it was the first year that the General Medical Council (GMC) insisted that every doctor do two six-month periods of medicine and surgery before registration. She describes her working life between the ages of twenty-four and thirty-eight as an “unplanned, zigzag career.” After completing her house jobs, Beulah and Thomas relocated to Essex and Beulah had jobs in general practice, Accident and Emergency, infectious diseases and worked a one in two on call. They spent a year in America where Beulah trained in paediatrics and moved to Dublin upon return to the UK, where they had their first child. Between 1958 and 1963, they had a further four children and Beulah continued to work part-time for the Family Planning Association in London while raising their children. She returned to her ‘second’ career full-time in 1969 when she undertook an MSc in epidemiology and social medicine at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She later completed an MD where her ground-breaking Medical Research Council funded project focused on smoking in children in the 1970s. Beulah’s illustrious academic career included joining the School of Hygiene as a Senior Lecturer and Consultant, a role which was split between the School of Hygiene and King’s College Hospital, and involved both teaching and research. Beulah became a Member of the Medical Women’s Federation and was later elected their President, dedicating her time trying to get female doctors into positions of power in the 1980s. She served on the Royal Society of Medicine’s Section on Epidemiology and Public Health and on the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). She was Honorary Treasurer of the GMC, the highest rank any woman has achieved there and was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 1985 and Fellow of the RCP in 1992. In 2000, Beulah was honoured with a DBE in recognition of her services to public health and in promoting equal opportunities for women in medicine. She was awarded an honorary LLB from Trinity College, her alma mater, in 2002. Beulah retired in 1994 and lives in London with her husband. They recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. * Favourite Music: All opera

Beulah’s advice to junior doctors is “Take up opportunities and put yourself forward.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Dame Carol Black

DBE FRCP FMedSci

Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge Professor Dame Carol Black’s CV is as impressive as her many titles: Professor, Commander, Dame, President, Principal and of course, Mrs Morely. Her journey is also one of triumph over relative adversity. Born in Leicestershire shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Carol attended the local grammar school and defied family expectations by going to university; her parents were not academic.

Graduating with a BA in History, she realised that this was not her calling. So, Carol began her medical career, working to pay her way through medical school. As President of the Student Union, little did Carol know that this title would re-visit her later in life. One of Carol’s first patients as a medical House Officer had scleroderma, and this terrible disease has remained her main focus ever since. Carol took up a Consultant post at West Middlesex Hospital, later moving to Royal Free Hospital. Here she established a world-renowned clinical research centre for scleroderma while doing a full-time NHS job – such was her steely determination to pursue an understanding into this disease. It was here she was awarded her Chair and later became the hospital Medical Director. Her contributions to scleroderma and to patients with it earned her a deserved CBE, upgraded to DBE in 2005. Upon retiring from her NHS work, Carol continued her almost unbelievable pace of work to become President of the Royal College of Physicians in 2002, only the second woman to hold that post. In 2006, she was appointed National Director of Health and Work and authored two reports focusing on the health of the UK working-age population and on sickness absence. The recommendations are now being put in place, with, for example, a national Fit for Work Service. Carol stepped down after ten years as Chairman of the Nuffield Trust for Health Policy and is also Past-President of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and of the British Lung Foundation, and has Chaired the UK Health Honours Committee. Carol is an Expert Advisor on Health and Work for

the Department of Health and Public Health England; Chairs the Board of Think Ahead, a not-for-profit organisation that encourages graduates into mental health social work; and the Rail Safety and Standards Board’s (RSSB) Health and Wellbeing Policy Group. She is a Member of the Welsh Government’s Parliamentary Review of Health and Social Care in Wales and Rand Europe’s Council of Advisers and a non-executive director of UK Active. She is also a Member of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Industries Oversight Board and on the Advisory Board of Step up to Serve. As Principal of Newnham, she is on several committees at Cambridge University and one of the Deputy Vice-Chancellors. She regularly gives talks to schools, at home and abroad, encouraging girls to apply for leading universities and to aim for high-level careers. It comes as no surprise that Carol mentors women towards leadership positions as her name itself is synonymous with leadership. She has learnt to ‘stay in there, be resilient and keep going – it will pay off in the end.’ Outside medicine, Carol is Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, the Work Foundation and of Uppingham School. In November 2013 she was named as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK in the BBC Woman’s Hour List and enjoyed the experience of being interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in February 2016. In May that year, she gave the Tanner Lecture in Tokyo, the first time this prestigious lecture was held in Japan. * Favourite Colour: Red

Carol’s advice to junior doctors is to heed what Don Berwick said: “The ultimate measure by which to judge the quality of a medical effort is whether it helps patients (and their families) as they see it. Anything done in healthcare that does not help a patient or a family is a waste, whether or not the professions or their associations traditionally allow it.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Miss Su-Anna Boddy

Centenary Souvenir

MS FRCS

(Retired) Consultant Paediatric Urologist, London Miss Su-Anna Boddy is the seventh woman but the first mother to be elected (and re-elected) as one of the then twenty-six Council Members of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS). Su-Anna is the daughter of two Oxford geography graduates. Her father was a headmaster and her mother was the head of an orphanage. It was the pastoral care that she observed in their roles that inspired her to become a doctor.

In fact, her mother suggested that Su-Anna reads poetry to take the pain out of childbirth. Having given birth to two children, Su-Anna has learnt that having an epidural is far better. Having qualified from St Bartholomew’s Hospital (Barts) Medical School in 1976, Su-Anna was inspired by Dick Fiddian, a Consultant General Surgeon in Luton, to become a surgeon. She started her postgraduate surgical training in and around London and obtained her RCS Fellowship in 1983. She then trained in paediatric surgery after both Su-Anna and her husband worked for Philip Ransley, a Consultant Paediatric Urologist at The Hospital For Sick Children Great Ormond Street, who inspired them both to become Paediatric Urologists. Her specialist training was in London, Birmingham and Leeds. Su-Anna’s best career decision was to withdraw from an interview for a Senior Registrar (SR) post in Leeds. Both Su-Anna and her husband were finishing their research posts in London and applying for SR jobs. Her husband had applied for a job in Sheffield but did not get it. Thus, they both applied to Leeds, and she was called for an interview. They decided that it was not ideal for their marriage for her to work in Leeds and for him to continue his research in London. Consequently, Su-Anna withdrew from the Leeds interview. But Leeds were a step ahead and offered her a part-time job, which would be centrally funded, so that they could offer her husband the full-time post, thus getting two for the price of one! Su-Anna did not go. Instead, she got an SR post in Birmingham. Su-Anna was appointed Consultant Paediatric Urologist at St George’s Hospital in London and worked there until she retired at the end of 2015. One of her main interests was improving the quality of life for children with severe disability and continence problems through multidisciplinary team care. She also invented an operation to correct hypospadias, which is now utilised worldwide. She is most proud of being part of improving outcomes for spina bifida patients. At the RCS, Su-Anna is Chair of the Children’s Surgical Forum, a pan-specialty body dedicated to the improvement of surgical services for children. Over her time on Council, she has had many diverse roles including Medical Lead for the Patient Liaison Group, the College’s Revalidation Implementation Committee and has been involved with Quality Assuring Courses for Continuing Professional Development and Internal Services and Education. She was Chair of Opportunities in Surgery, including

Women in Surgery, which supports the College in making surgery an attractive specialty for women. Su-Anna was the first Flexible Training Advisor to the College and worked with the Department of Health as Chair of the Intercollegiate Committee for Improving Working Lives of Doctors. She worked with NHS Employers and the Department of Health launching the Certificate of Fitness for Honorary Activity, thereby allowing consultants to work in different Trusts without the previous bureaucracy. Su-Anna has been described as a Type A ‘high speed’ personality and will continue with her signature role model image as Bouncy Boddy, in the bright dresses, black toenails and break neck heels, helping more women break the glass ceiling. * Favourite Song: Love is Just a Four Letter Word by Joan Baez * Three objects Su-Anna cannot live without: My pearls (necklace and earrings), Black nail polish, Mobile phone

Su-Anna’s advice to junior doctors is “Work hard and play hard and make the most of every opportunity that comes your way (unchanged despite what is happening).”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones

FRCPsych BA(Hons) DOccMed MD

Director of The National Problem Gambling Clinic, London Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones was born and grew up in Italy. She knew from the age of seven years that she wanted to be a psychiatrist. An avid reader, Henrietta loved reading the Peanuts cartoons, which not only shaped her career path but also provided her with her first role model.

Lucy, one of the characters who is full of vitality and energy in the books, has a stall with a sign that says ‘The psychiatrist is in’ and the other characters go and ask for advice on how to sort out their problems. Henrietta studied medicine at Pavia University, Italy and qualified in 1996. She then came to the UK to continue her training in what she regards as one of her best career moves. She trained at the Charing Cross and Imperial College rotation in London, and her first teaching hospital post was at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, which she is particularly grateful for as she met her future husband there. She obtained an MD at Imperial doing research on the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of the brain of alcohol-dependent subjects while doing a full-time job and raising young children. As part of her research, she started to study the neuronal pathways involved in pathological gambling and the more she read, the more fascinated she became with the subject. Gambling grabbed her attention. After completing her membership exams and specialising in addiction psychiatry, Henrietta ran the inpatient NHS detoxification service for alcohol and drugs in Central London as well as leading the Soho Rapid Access Clinic, treating homeless drug addicts. Henrietta was appointed Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College and is also Founder and Director of the National Problem Gambling Clinic, based in Soho, London. The clinic is the first and only NHS multidisciplinary treatment centre in the UK for the treatment of problem gamblers and their families. Since opening in 2008, the clinic has had over four thousand referrals and holds the most extensive national database on pathological gambling. Henrietta is most proud of this achievement. Henrietta admits that setting up a new national clinic was stressful, and recalls staying up all hours, trying her best to persuade people the value of such a clinic. She has learnt the importance of exercising regularly, even if it means getting up extremely early to fit this in, which has kept her calm through her challenging times She runs the UK Problem Gambling Research Consortium, a group of twelve researchers from Imperial, Cambridge, Oxford and University College London collaborating on different research projects exploring the neurobiology of pathological gambling. Much of her time is spent lecturing at conferences and teaching medical postgraduate students, psychologists, mental health professionals, magistrates, psychiatrists, and neuroscientists.

Extensively interviewed by the national press, including interviews in The Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and Vogue, Henrietta is The Royal College of Psychiatrist’s (RCPsych) Spokesperson on behavioural addictions. She has done many radio and television appearances and in 2013 gave a TED talk. She spent nine years as an elected member of the UK’s Executive Committee Addictions Faculty at the RCPsych and also held the posts of Finance Officer and Academic Secretary. She continues on the committee as a co-opted Member. While serving on the College executive committee, Henrietta was the link person to the Faculty of Occupational Medicine and has collaborated with them on guidelines for managing substance misuse in the workplace. She is an advisor to London Underground on alcohol and drugs misuse and works closely with the unit carrying out assessments on their staff. She is a Member of the World Health Organisation Behavioural Addictions Advisory Group, the Royal Society of Medicine’s Psychiatry Council and has published extensively on behavioural addictions. She has written nine book chapters and edited two textbooks. A Trustee of Sporting Chance since 2006, Henrietta also set up a charity, Gambling Concern, dedicated to fundraising for the treatment of problem gamblers. She is the current President-elect of the Medical Women’s Federation. * Favourite Music: Goosebumps by Travis Scott * Three objects Henrietta cannot live without: A novel, Notebook to jot down ideas for my blog, A pen

Henrietta’s advice to junior doctors is “Please use the Medical Women’s Federation as a source of advice and support.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Dr Wendy Burn Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist, Leeds, and President Elect, Royal College of Psychiatrists

Dr Wendy Burn will be the fifteenth President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists when she takes up her role in June 2017 and brings over twenty-seven years’ of experience as a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist.

Born in Oxford to medical parents, Wendy knew from an early age that she wanted to follow in their footsteps. Her mother was the first person in her family to go to university and trained to be a doctor in the 1940s when it was unusual for women to do so. Wendy describes her mother as a domestic goddess who taught her that women could have it all. While at school, she joined the cadet branch of the St Johns Ambulance Brigade and spent many weekends administering first aid. Wendy trained at Southampton Medical School. In her second year, she undertook a project on people who had self-harmed and was shocked to discover the negative attitudes of staff to this patient group. She did, however, love the time she spent in psychiatry and the responsibility she was afforded, which was far more than in other placements. After qualifying, Wendy considered a career in psychiatry, and took up a locum Senior House Officer (SHO) post, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She had now decided on her future career choice - her best career decision. After a further one-year research post, Wendy moved to train in Leeds with her husband, when he was offered an Anatomy Demonstrator post there. Her first job there was in a Victorian asylum that was converted into private housing, working with the elderly. Once again, Wendy had found an area of medicine that she was passionate about and the various life stories, the psychological robustness of the patients and the opportunity to refresh her medical skills fascinated her. Wendy completed her training, including an academic post that was linked to Leeds University. She considered an academic career but was advised that she would need to move to London to do this. Having settled in Leeds, she decided against it and instead chose to remain as a clinician. She was appointed a Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist in 1990 in inner city Leeds at the age of only thirtyone. Soon after she became the College Tutor. Wendy was one of a rare breed of female consultants, and she was the first one at the psychiatric unit in Leeds where she worked. Her service is responsible for patients with dementia at all stages of the illness as well as elderly people with a range of psychiatric problems. She has worked closely with the Alzheimer’s Society and is Clinical Lead for Dementia in the Yorkshire Strategic Clinical Network. After only a few months’ maternity leave, Wendy returned to work when her son was four months’ old. Eighteen months later, she had her second child and this time returned to work when her daughter was three months of age. She became more involved in

teaching and became Chair of the SHO training programme, and a whole host of roles followed including Director of Postgraduate Medical Education, Chair of Specialty Training Committee and Associate Medical Director for Doctors in Training in Leeds. She set up the Yorkshire School of Psychiatry and was the first Head of School. Wendy has enjoyed a long relationship with the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) and has been an Examiner, Senior Organiser of Clinical Examinations, Deputy Convenor, Regional Coordinator for continuing professional development and Deputy Lead for National Recruitment. She was elected College Dean in 2011 and served a five-year term and found the ability to make changes at a national level incredibly rewarding. In January 2017, Wendy was encouraged to stand as President of the RCPsych. Indeed, half of the previous Deans had progressed to this role. Although this was not her ambition at the outset, Wendy did stand for election and was successful. She describes this as the proudest moment of her life. Wendy will start to serve as President in June 2017. * Favourite Film: Dr Who and the Daleks – the first film I ever saw at the cinema and nothing, as yet, has bettered the experience * Three objects Wendy cannot live without: iPhone, Two cats

Wendy’s advice to junior doctors is “Don’t ever give up on medicine. You will go through bad times, but there is no other career that is as interesting, intellectually stimulating and where you can make such a difference.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Catherine Calderwood

MA Cantab MBChB FRCOG FRCP (Edin)

Chief Medical Officer, Scotland Dr Catherine Calderwood is the first female Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Scotland and continues to work as a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Catherine was born in Belfast and always wanted to be a doctor. Both her parents were doctors, and mealtime discussions for her were mesmerising.

She studied at the University of Cambridge and graduated with her medical degree from the University of Glasgow in 1993. Catherine was a junior doctor working in medical specialities in Glasgow Royal Infirmary and at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. She completed her specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology and maternal medicine in South-East Scotland and at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Since her appointment in 2006, Catherine has worked as a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with an interest in obstetric medicine in NHS Lothian. She has special interests in maternal medicine, obstetric ultrasonography and high-risk pregnancy, including thromboembolic disease in pregnancy. She is an investigator on the AFFIRM study which is examining the effect of the introduction of a standardised education and management plan for the care of women presenting with decreased foetal movements in hospitals throughout the UK and Ireland. Catherine became a Medical Adviser to the Scottish Government in 2010 and has been instrumental with the work involved in reducing stillbirths and neonatal deaths in Scotland and in reducing avoidable harm in maternity services. While in this role, she helped launch Maternity Care Quality Improvement Collaborative. In 2013, Catherine was part of the expert panel set up by Jeremy Hunt to examine concerns over what appeared to be a spate of unnecessary deaths in the maternity unit at Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust. She was also National Clinical Director for maternity and women’s health for NHS England and promoted the first friends and family test in maternity services in 2014. Catherine was Acting Deputy CMO in Scotland, supporting Dr Aileen Keil who had been Acting CMO of Scotland from April 2014 following the retirement of Sir Harry Burns. In February 2015, Catherine was appointed as the new CMO of Scotland, the first female to take up this post, in what she considers one of her proudest achievements. In January 2016, Catherine launched her first annual report as CMO for Scotland, which focused on ‘Realistic Medicine’ and challenged modern medicine to rethink priorities. It was universally well received amongst doctors, nurses and allied health professionals across the world. Being able to influence change is something Catherine sees as a huge reward of her job. More recently her role expanded to include major trauma services and the introduction of robotic surgery for prostate cancer to Scotland.

Despite many challenges along the way, Catherine believes that it is “best to tackle problems head on rather than wait and hope that they disappear or that someone else takes the problems away.” She feels hugely supported in her role and has learnt a great deal from many colleagues she has worked with – midwives, doctors and managers – and admits that the best are great communicators, transparent and working for the agenda of improving care for patients, and not their own agenda. These hard-working individuals, who go the extra mile, are the people who inspire Catherine every day. Catherine is married and lives with her husband and their three children. * Favourite Film: Mamma Mia – my daughters love it * Three objects Catherine cannot live without: My 3 children, Mobile phone, Laptop

Catherine’s advice to junior doctors is “Ask the patient their priorities for treatment and outcomes.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Dr Elizabeth Carlin President of The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV

Dr Elizabeth Carlin was elected President of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) in early 2016 with a pledge to communicate and safeguard the unique and essential role that sexual health services provide for all society. Elizabeth was born in South Yorkshire and decided that she wanted to be a doctor as a young teenager.

She qualified from Sheffield University Medical School in 1984 and trained in general internal medicine in Manchester and Aberdeen. It was after doing a six-month post as a Senior House Officer in genitourinary medicine (GUM), that Elizabeth knew which specialty she wanted to work in for the rest of her life. After moving to London to start her specialist training, Elizabeth obtained a training post at St. Mary’s Hospital and Central Middlesex Hospital, and then at the newly built Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. She rapidly became engrossed in the many different aspects of the specialty including diagnosing and managing sexually transmitted infections and genital conditions, health promotion and education, and the treatment and care of people living with HIV. In 1995, Elizabeth was appointed to her current post as Consultant in Genitourinary/ HIV medicine in Nottinghamshire split between a district general hospital (Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and a university teaching hospital (Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust). Over the years, she has focused her energies on developing the service such that it is now widely delivered with reproductive health, outreach and health promotion integrated into an overarching sexual health service. She is currently leading the mobilisation of services in mid-Nottinghamshire into a new integrated sexual health service following a successful tender in 2015. This is one of Elizabeth’s proudest achievements. One of her areas of specialism is HIV care during pregnancy, and she is passionate about delivering and developing high-quality patient-focused services Since 2001, Elizabeth has been Head of Service and Service Director. She is also Chair of the Local Negotiating

Committee (LNC), and has served in that role since 2005, and a Member of the regional LNC Forum and Regional Consultant Committee. With an underlying belief in fairness and equity, Elizabeth has applied these principles to all of the negotiated agreements that she has secured. Elizabeth has held many senior appointments at BASHH including Vice-President, General Secretary and Chair of the Clinical Governance Committee. She has also previously been Chair of the Trent branch of BASSH and its predecessor, the Association of GUM. She is a Member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, author of UK and European Guidelines on Sexua lly Acquired Reactive Arthritis and has written national job planning guidance. Elizabeth contributed to the first edition of the UK Standards for the Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections and the Standards of care for Women with Vulval Conditions. At BASHH, she has been instrumental in developing tools to help clinicians with tendering. A regret in her home life has taught Elizabeth a lesson that she now applies to every aspect of her life. As a junior doctor, she wanted to buy a property but didn’t because she was worried about making a mistake. Rather, the mistake, she now knows, was not buying it. She now makes sure that any major decision is based on weighing up the facts, rather than fear of an unknown outcome. * Favourite Song: China In Your Hand by T’Pau * Three objects Elizabeth cannot live without: Sharp nail scissors, Mechanical pencil with eraser, Smart mobile phone

Elizabeth’s advice to junior doctors is “Be flexible – have a plan but be prepared to adapt it depending on circumstances and opportunities.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Hilary Cass

OBE

Consultant in Paediatric Disability, London, and Past-President, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Dr Hilary Cass, a Consultant in Paediatric Disability at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, almost became a GP. Hilary attended the City of London School for Girls and then trained at London’s Royal Free Hospital.

She qualified in 1982 and embarked on a GP vocational training scheme but was inspired by Max Friedman, a Consultant Paediatrician, who sparked Hilary’s interest in paediatrics to change her career. Her best career decision was not to have a career plan. She went for new opportunities and challenges as they presented, which led her to complete her higher specialist training in the disability field. She has held clinical Consultant roles in three tertiary centres. Hilary strives to develop inclusive, multi-professional models of care for children and young people, which cut across various care sectors and to empower doctors in training to take control of their lives and the environment in which they work. After all, junior doctors are the best engineers of the future NHS. Over a fifteen-year period, she was a Consultant in Paediatric Disability at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), where she also held a number of senior management and education roles including Director of Postgraduate Medical Education and Deputy Medical Director. She ran a highly successful programme, called Snakes and Ladders, which used role players to re-enact the ups and downs of the patient journey and teach clinical governance and improvement skills to staff across the hospital. The series culminated in a book for both patients and professionals. It was at GOSH that Hilary raised concerns about patient safety, which led to her premature departure from the Trust. She has learnt that even a really painful and traumatic experience has value. “It becomes part of who you are, teaches you how to cope better with adversity on future occasions, and ultimately makes you a better doctor and a better leader,” she says. Hilary’s clinical interests include children with autistic spectrum disorders, cognitive impairment secondary to epilepsy and the management of children with multiple disabilities. She also runs a national service for children with Rett syndrome and

has carried out research on developmental regression and autistic spectrum disorders. In yet another twist and turn in her career, Hilary focused on medical education as well as her clinical work. She set up a junior doctor leadership team – DocReps – which put frontline trainees in charge of many of the innovations within the hospital. In 2008 Hilary established the Paediatric Palliative Care Service at Evelina London, and served as President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) from 2012-2015, calling for new ways of delivering care in ‘child health hubs’, for all GPs to be trained in child health and for fewer, more specialist centres of care. She has overseen the development of pioneering resources such as the MindEd e-portal, to support all professionals in identifying the signs of mental ill health in children. Hilary is Senior Clinical Advisor to Health Education England and continues to hold a series of education and management roles, both at Evelina and within the London School of Paediatrics (LSP). She is Trustee of Together for Short Lives, the children’s palliative care charity, and a Governor at De Montfort University where she is involved in a programme of work with some of the poorest children and families in India’s slums. In March 2017 she became Chair of the British Academy of Childhood Disability. She is most proud of setting up the first ‘hospital at night’ team in a model that has since been replicated across the UK, and establishing the Trainee Committee in the LSP thereby empowering the doctors to take control of much of the school’s activities. In 2015 Hilary was awarded an OBE for services to child health. The same year she was given an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Nursing. * Favourite Book: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese * One object Hilary cannot live without: An alarm clock that gets increasingly verbally abusive if I don’t get up

Hilary’s advice to junior doctors is “Be yourself, trust yourself, and if you get the chance – take time out.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Alys Cole-King

Centenary Souvenir

MBBCh MSc DGM FRCPsych

Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist, Wales Dr Alys Cole-King is a Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist and Director of Connecting with People, a not-for-profit organisation working in the field of mental health, suicide and self-harm. She is a pioneer of suicide mitigation. Alys wanted to be either a doctor or an actress.

As a teenager and student, she spent time writing and acting in plays, supplementing her grant performing in a professional improvised-comedy group. Eventually medicine won. Initially considering a career in general practice Alys was intrigued by the interplay between psychosocial factors and physical health, finding it most rewarding when attending to both. She chose psychiatry when realising GPs only have ten minutes to treat patients whilst psychiatrists have twenty. Alys qualified from Cardiff University in 1990 and after a general medicine rotation started psychiatry in 1992. She has never forgotten her first day on-call, following a twenty-minute briefing on suicide risk assessment. She later undertook a yearlong psychological autopsy research project investigating factors associated with self-harm and attempted suicide by patients under the care of mental health services. She discovered that psychiatric teams underestimated suicidal intent, prompting an interest in the chasm between suicidal patients and services. Alys started thinking about how to bridge that gap, and how the right approach to assessment could become a therapeutic intervention. Alys describes her grandmother and mother as her inspirations. Her grandmother left school at the age of thirteen to run the home when her own mother tragically died. Despite her grandmother’s lack of education, she practically home educated Alys’ mother who was the first person they knew to go to university. Her parents took a huge gamble, leaving teaching jobs and buying a derelict seaside property in Wales to create and run an independent school, giving subsidised places to children from low-income families. Their determination, devotion to learning,

and compassion underlie Alys’ own motivations and taught her to have the courage to follow a dream. She also learnt that hard work pays off. Patients and their families have been Alys’ professional inspiration. Early in her career a patient reported that he had abandoned his suicide attempt when he had remembered her words of hope. On another occasion she was speaking at a conference to an audience of parents who had lost children through suicide. Their pain was so intense “you could see it; you could almost touch it.” From that day, she felt compelled to support people at risk of suicide and to reduce the suffering caused by suicide. Alys is a Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board combining her clinical work with a public health role. She works nationally and internationally with Royal Colleges, policy makers, voluntary bodies and academics to raise awareness of suicide and self-harm. She is a contributor to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention. In 2010, Alys co-founded Connecting with People with Gavin Peake-Jones. Their related SAFETool assessment framework and the training aims to increase governance, compassion and bridge the gap between research findings and clinical practice. Alys regards this as her biggest professional achievement to date. It has since grown exponentially and is being delivered in a wide range of clinical and non-clinical settings across the UK, Jersey and in Australia. Alys is a reviewer and author of papers, book chapters, webinars, podcasts and resources on suicide and self-harm. She contributed to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) e-learning module and delivered the BMJ Masterclass Webinar on suicide mitigation. She sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Compassionate Health Care and contributes to the RCGP Expert Reference Group on End of Life Care Guidelines. Alys sits on the International Expert Reference Groups for Griffiths University, a WHO Collaborating Centre, advising on the impact of patient suicide and the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada on suicide in remote and rural areas. Alys collaborates with the media to promote a compassionate and safe approach to suicide prevention and leads international campaigns. She was the Executive Producer of U Can Cope, a film about overcoming suicidal thoughts launched in Parliament in 2012. * Favourite Song: Life on Mars by David Bowie * Three objects Alys cannot live without: Family photos, Real coffee, Hiking boots

Alys’s advice to junior doctors is “Despite all the challenges – and there are many – medicine is still the most amazing career. Nothing can match the feeling of purpose and job-satisfaction of knowing that today, you truly made a real difference to someone’s life.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Jane Dacre

MD PRCP

President of the Royal College of Physicians Professor Jane Dacre was elected President of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in April 2014, only the third female to hold this post in the college’s history. She was Director of University College London Medical School before taking a secondment to become President of the RCP and is Professor of Medical Education, and a Rheumatology Consultant at the Whittington Hospital.

Jane decided to become a doctor at the age of twelve because she liked people and biology. She trained at University College Hospital Medical School in London. Having qualified in 1980, she pursued her two key interests, rheumatology and medical education. She undertook her postgraduate clinical training in general internal medicine and rheumatology at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, in London and then became Clinical Lead for the country’s first Clinical Skills Centre at St. Bartholomew’s Medical School (Barts). Something of an expert in medical assessment, Jane was co-author of the GALS screen (a screening examination for Gait, Arms, Legs and Spine), and has been instrumental in the development, implementation and evaluation of several undergraduate and postgraduate assessment systems in medicine. Examples are too numerous to mention but include the finals examination at Barts and University College London (UCL), the Royal College of Anaesthetists postgraduate examination, the PLAB test and the MRCP (UK) examination. She has been heavily involved with the General Medical Council (GMC) performance procedures, and since 2006, Jane has run the development of the tests of competence for them. Deciding to focus on medical education, however risky it was deemed, has been one of Jane’s best career moves and one she has never regretted. In 2007, Jane Chaired the postgraduate taught course review and the MBBS review steering groups as Director of UCL Medical School, and from 2008-2012 she Chaired the GMC Education and Training Committee. She was Chair of the Research Steering Group at the RCP on Women in

Medicine, which published its findings in 2009 and was also a GMC Council Member from 2009-2012. Jane was Medical Director of the MRCP (UK) examination from 2010-2013 and was responsible for the assessment of more than 24,000 physicians worldwide. Her research interests include investigating the characteristics of doctors who get into diff iculty with the GMC as well as whether there is any racial or gender bias with the MRCP examination. She was also academic Vice-President of the RCP. Jane has remained upbeat at most times and is unable to identify one biggest mistake in her career – rather she believes that things could have been better on occasions, and she has always tried to learn from her errors. Her lesson for challenging times is to “be resilient – it will pass.” Apart from the first women doctors, whose career struggles were immense (including pretending to be men), Jane’s greatest inspiration comes from her late father for being calm, cool and clever. She has won numerous accolades including the Woman of Achievement in Medicine and Healthcare Award from Women in the City Awards for 2012. She was listed in the Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) inaugural list of 50 Inspirational Women in healthcare in 2013 and was again named in the HSJ’s Top 100 list in both 2014 and 2015. Jane was listed in the science and medicine category for people of influence in Debrett’s 500 in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Jane is married with three children and is most proud of her family. * Favourite Book: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Jane’s advice to junior doctors is “Don’t leave – stay and help us sort things out.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Dame Sally Davies

Centenary Souvenir

FRS FMedSci

Chief Medical Officer, England Professor Dame Sally Davies is the first female Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England in the 165-year history of the role. As the most senior independent advisor to the UK Government on all medical matters, she carries the rank of Permanent Secretary and advises the Secretary of State for Health, with particular responsibilities for Public Health. In particular, she provides professional leadership for Directors of Public Health in England. As CMO, Sally is also the professional Head of The Department of Health’s medical staff and is Head of the Medical Civil Service. She holds responsibility for Research and Development and is the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health. Additionally, Sally was the first female in over one hundred years to be elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society. Sally was born into an academic family in Birmingham and grew up with a strong moral code of right and wrong from her father, who was a prolific scholar. She failed her eleven-plus exam and was sent to a private school, from where she has flourished ever since. She chose to study medicine and graduated from the University of Manchester in 1972, and was then awarded her Master of Science degree from the University of London. She was always passionate about medicine and wanted to “make a difference,” she says. With a career that was far from planned, she married her first husband shortly after and moved with him to Madrid when he became First Secretary at the British Embassy in 1978. She learned Spanish and perfected her cookery skills, pausing her own career in the process, and becoming a diplomat’s wife. Four years later, Sally returned to London and the couple divorced. To re-familiarise herself with medicine, Sally self-funded a three-month advanced medicine course and secured a Senior House Officer post in paediatrics. The same year, she met and married her second husband who tragically died of leukaemia within six months. With yet another career change, Sally trained in haematology at Middlesex Hospital and in 1985, she was appointed Consultant Haematologist at Central Middlesex Hospital. For the next twenty-five years, her main focus was on sickle-cell anaemia, a disease that is so often neglected by Western medical practice. In 1989, Sally married Dutch-born Willem Ouwehand, who is a Professor of experimental haematology at Cambridge University, and the couple have two children. She became Professor of Haemoglobinopathies in 1997. In 2004, she started her career with the civil service where she took up a research position. She was promoted to Director-General of Research and Development at the Department of Health and then Chief Scientific Adviser. She is most proud of establishing the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Sally was honoured with a DBE for services to medicine in the 2009 New Year Honours. Since 2010, Sally has been CMO

and has made full use of her position to bring scientific evidence directly into the heart of the debate at Whitehall. She wants to empower people to take responsibility for their health and build a healthcare system that is proactive rather than reactive. In 2013 Sally was named the sixth most powerful woman in Britain by BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. She holds 24 honorary degrees, is Chair of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Scientific and Technical Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, a Member of the WHO Executive Board and the Council of the Medical Research Council. Sally is proud of putting antimicrobial resistance on the global map when she managed to get agreement on the way forward from the UN General Assembly. Her greatest inspiration is Professor Sir David Weatherall, whom she describes as a wonderful, caring physician, a superb scientist and an inspiring man. Her best lesson in life is “Have faith in yourself.” * Favourite Film: Mamma Mia! * Three objects Sally cannot live without: Coffee percolator, Food mixer, iPad

Sally’s advice to junior doctors is “Take care of your own emotions and health as well as your patients.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Linda de Cossart

CBE ChM FRCS FAcadMEd

Emeritus Consultant Vascular and General Surgeon, Chester Professor Linda de Cossart was elected Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) for England in April 2008 as only the fifth female executive member to hold that position in the 217-year listing of the college. When she began her training, it was almost unheard of for a woman to enter the world of surgery, and when she did not get into medical school the first time around, she resisted the urge and advice to take a place in science – her best career decision.

Linda qualified in 1972 from the University of Liverpool School of Medicine and undertook her house jobs at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary. After a year spent as an Anatomy Demonstrator, she spent a three-month sabbatical as a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Anatomy, at the University of Texas, Houston. Upon return to the UK, she completed a pre-fellowship registrar rotation, became a Fellow of the RCS in 1977 and graduated with an MS from the University of Liverpool after a period of full-time research on the subject of venous disease in 1983. Her clinical training followed the traditional route prior to Calmanisation and she spent two years as a Vascular Research Fellow to Mrs Averil Mansfield in Liverpool. In 1988, Linda was appointed Consultant Surgeon with an interest in vascular surgery at the Countess of Chester Hospital, with a special remit of developing a peripheral vascular service there. The unit she established is now the second main centre in Merseyside. As Associate Postgraduate Dean in the Mersey Deanery from 1993, and Programme Director from 1994, Linda was closely involved with the changes in both specialist registrar

and senior house officer levels in surgery and their educational implications. She continued both roles until 2006. Linda remains very active in medical education and teaching, and creating resources for medical teachers is at the heart of her endeavour to promote the importance of teaching using the ‘moral mode of educational practice’. In the model, the learner is put at the centre of the teaching endeavour both as a person and professional. Linda is most inspired by those she teaches and has taught; “it is a privilege to be a teacher of other doctors and a joy to watch young doctors grow and develop their capacity as capable doctors,” she says. In 1993, Linda completed a Certificate in Senior Executive Business Management from the Manchester Business School and in 1999, she was first elected to the 26-Member Council of the RCS. The same year, she became Chair of the Health and Safety Committee, a Member of the Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) in General Surgery, and for ten years she was an Intercollegiate Examiner for the exit exam in general surgery. She is an External Examiner for the Masters in Surgical Education at Imperial College and is a Trustee of the Liverpool Medical Institute. In 2008, Linda was elected Vice-President of the RCS. She retired from clinical practice in 2009 and was appointed Director of Medical Education at Chester from 2010-2015. In collaboration with Professor Della Fish, she instituted an MA in Education for Postgraduate Medical Practice at the University of Chester, where she is an Honorary Professor. They succeeded in the aim of educating a critical mass of senior clinicians in becoming better clinical teachers, and it was rolled out to a wider audience in 2012. With Della, Linda has published Cultivating a Thinking Surgeon in 2005; Developing the Wise Doctor in 2007, and Reflection for Medical Appraisal in 2013. During her career, she is most proud of creating a vascular service which continues, encouraging more women to enter surgical training in the Mersey region, and being respected by her peers and colleagues resulting in her election to College Council. In 2010, she was awarded a CBE for services to medicine and healthcare. * Favourite Song: The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins * Three objects Linda cannot live without: iPhone, Electric toothbrush, My Philip Kingsley hair shampoo

Linda’s advice to junior doctors is “Remember that you are part of an important profession, honour its traditions and, in the best interests of patients, reshape it for the 21st century.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Jennifer Dixon

Centenary Souvenir

CBE

Chief Executive of The Health Foundation, London Dr Jennifer Dixon has spent the past twenty years influencing health policy. As a leader, it seems an oxymoron that such a public figure was once the shyest girl in school. Her earliest ambition to play Cleopatra in the school play did not materialise due to her dislike of acting and public speaking.

Jennifer attended eight different schools and describes her childhood as ‘unsettled’ due to her father’s frequent job moves. She studied medicine in Bristol and was elected as the only ‘independent’ candidate to the Student Union Council. Perhaps this was a show of her early interest in politics. After graduation, Jennifer took up junior doctor posts in paediatrics in London, but five years after qualifying, she changed her career. For Jennifer, against all advice, taking the risk of leaving clinical medicine in 1989 to develop her skills in policy analysis was her best career move. This was originally at the suggestion of a

colleague, but she still remembers the look of disbelief on the face of the Professor of Cardiology. Soon after, she completed an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was awarded the prestigious Harkness Fellowship in New York in 1990-1991. There she studied healthcare reform both at national and state level in what she recalls was a nonhierarchical atmosphere. She completed a PhD in health services research and started working at the King’s Fund, where she was Director of Policy. Despite her childhood reservations about public speaking, Jennifer has published and presented widely on NHS policy and health care reform, both nationally and internationally. In 1998, she was seconded to the Department of Health as the Policy Advisor to the Chief Executive of the NHS, Sir Alan Langlands, for two years. In 2008, she was appointed Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust where she developed a new strategy and business model resulting in a well-respected organisation using data to benefit NHS patient care. Jennifer has served as a Board member on several national regulatory bodies, including the Audit Commission from 20032012 as a Non-Executive Director; the Health Commission from 2004-2009; and in 2013, she joined the Care Quality Commission, where she still serves as an expert advisor. Often faced with uncomfortable and awkward situations in the political arena, Jennifer’s advice is to keep calm and carry on. In 2009, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and in 2016, she was awarded a Doctor of Science from Bristol University, her alma mater. She has held visiting Professorships at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the London School of Economics, and Imperial College Business School. She is a Member of the Parliamentary Review Panel for the Welsh Assembly Government on the future of the NHS and social care. In October 2013, Jennifer became Chief Executive of the Health Foundation, where she currently works. The same year, she received a CBE for services to public health. Jennifer lives in London with her husband, who is also a Bristol graduate, and their two daughters. * Favourite Music: Shostakovich’s 8th symphony * Three objects Jennifer cannot live without: Pyjamas, Easel, Armenian brandy

Jennifer’s advice to junior doctors is “Work hard, practice humility and follow your instinct.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Margaret Du Feu

OBE

Consultant Psychiatrist, Ireland Dr Margaret Du Feu has worked tirelessly serving deaf people with mental health problems in England and in Ireland and was deservedly awarded an OBE in 2014. Margaret was born in Essex in 1950. At school, she studied Arts at A ‘level because she did not want to compete with her older brother, who was a scientist. She was offered a place at Cambridge to read English but chose to travel and broaden her horizons.

Her many jobs during her travels included a bus conductor and a cleaner, amongst many others. Finally, she embarked on her medical career by completing science A’levels and studying medicine at Cambridge and the Royal London Hospital, before qualifying in 1978. After her house jobs, Margaret spent time in various specialities including general practice, paediatrics, anaesthetics and surgery, although was put off surgery by the then 140-hour week. She then did six months of psychiatry in 1984 after her daughter was born and her Consultant in Worcester, Dr George Miner, inspired Margaret to decide on this as her chosen career. She continued her psychiatry training in Birmingham. By now, Margaret’s personal battle with deafness had begun. She started losing her hearing while at medical school and realised that she couldn’t hear very well through the stethoscope. Eventually, she was completely deaf from cochlear osteosclerosis. Determined to continue normally, she had hearing aids and an amplifying stethoscope and finally a cochlear implant in 1999. Despite further personal adversity, this doctor was undeterred. Margaret’s artist husband had schizophrenia and several breakdowns. Unable to persuade psychiatrists to help her husband and his persecutory delusions, Margaret lost him when their daughter was only six years old. “I will always feel that I could have done more while knowing that the odds against us were just too great,” she says. “I have learnt to listen to desperate relatives, as I have been one myself.” Meanwhile, the UK’s third service for Mental Health for deaf people was being set up in Birmingham, and Margaret, being deaf herself, was asked to work there. The first thing she did was learn to sign. From 1991 to 2005, Margaret worked with a dedicated deaf and hearing team to cover a vast area extending from the Midlands to Cornwall and Lincolnshire. Inspired by the work of Dr John Denmark who pioneered Mental Health and Deafness

(MHD) Services in the UK from the 1960s, Margaret worked endless hours developing a much-needed service. She travelled extensively caring for this much-neglected population with very little money available, only ten beds for almost one-third of the country while raising a young daughter and practically living at motorway service stations. Margaret trained deaf staff as nursing assistants, and eventually, the service went up to twelve beds; she was still the only consultant, however. It became apparent that a similar service was needed in Northern Ireland and in 2003 Margaret was seconded to spend two days a week to develop this. After two years, she moved to Belfast to develop a further MHD service in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). Margaret retired from the NHS in 2010 but continues to work part-time in the ROI. In 2013, Margaret won the Joseph Maitland Robinson Award from Signature, a UK charity focused on improving access for deaf and deafblind people. The award recognised her outstanding contribution to improving the everyday experiences of deaf and deafblind people with mental illness. This demonstrated that she had the trust and respect of the very population that she serves: the deaf community. “I could never ask for more than that,” she says. In 2014, she was Chair of the Scientific Committee of the World Congress on Mental Health and Deafness in Belfast and was awarded her OBE. With Dr Cathy Chovaz, a deaf child psychologist in Canada, Margaret authored Mental Health and Deafness, published by Oxford University Press. Despite retirement, she continues to work and is employed by a voluntary organisation, Deafhear.ie and holds a clinic to a catchment area of five million people. * Favourite Film: Twelve Angry Men * Three objects Margaret cannot live without: A cup of coffee, A book, My cat

Margaret’s advice to junior doctors is “Don’t be afraid to take the time to listen carefully; to admit you don’t know; to admit a mistake; or to ask for help. If you are afraid of anything, walk calmly towards it.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Clare Gerada

Centenary Souvenir

MBE FRCGP FRCPsych

General Practitioner and Medical Director, London Dr Clare Gerada, also known as Lady Wessely is a London-based General Practitioner (GP) and Founder of a substance misuse unit. Her passion for wanting to be a doctor was ignited by her GP father who started off his practice in the front room of their home. At the time, Peterborough had the largest Italian community outside Italy, and as her father spoke fluent Italian, he was the GP for all of them. Clare’s love for medicine comes from him as she recalls him going out in the middle of the night in his pyjamas, often taking Clare with him.

Born in Nigeria, Clare grew up in Peterborough and qualified from University College Hospital, London in 1983. She started her medical training at Whittington Hospital and then trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley and Bethlam Hospitals, where she obtained her MRCPsych. At this point, she decided to change career direction and followed in her father’s footsteps to train in general practice and has since combined a successful career in both psychiatry and general practice. In 1991 Clare became a GP and partner in the Hurley Clinic on a council estate in south London, where she has worked ever since. The practice is now one of the largest GP group practices in London. She developed an interest and expertise in the addiction field after her training in psychiatry led her to a life-long interest in managing drug users She describes this as her best career move. Clare initially led a shared care substance misuse service, a Consultancy Liaison Addiction Service, supporting GPs caring for drug users. Clare has published widely: over one hundred peer and nonpeer reviewed papers, articles, books and chapters, despite never holding a formal academic position. She has held numerous local and national leadership positions with strong links to three medical Royal Colleges and is an active member of the Bevan Commission, which was originally established in 2008

to advise the Minister on promoting health and health services improvement in Wales. Clare was Director of Primary Care for the National Clinical Governance team and Senior Medical Advisor to the Department of Health (DOH), representing them when she advised the Maltese Government on their drug policy. She admits that taking a file home to work on during her time at the DOH and then not being able to find it, was one of her greatest mistakes. Clare believed that it had fallen off her bicycle, and spent hours travelling the route, back and forth, looking for it. It was under her bed. In 2008, Clare was awarded the contract to deliver the pioneering NHS Practitioner Health Programme (PHP) service which provides confidential medical advice for doctors and dentists with mental health or addiction problems. This is her proudest achievement. Clare is a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and she was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians in 2008. Her marriage with the RCGP is a long one; Clare was ViceChair of the College Council, past Chair of the College Ethics Committee and in 2010, was elected Chair of Council – the first female Chair to hold that position in fifty years. In 2000, Clare was awarded an MBE for services to medicine for her substance misuse work. She has been vocal on many high profile media outlets and has featured on the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives, nominating Vera Brittain, in a BBC2 Horizon documentary, BBC Radio 4’s ‘Any Questions?’ and the Politics Show. In 2013, Clare was listed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, and was twice voted by readers of the Evening Standard as one of the top 1,000 influential Londoners. In 2014, she was listed by Debrett’s and the Sunday Times as one of the 500 most influential people in Britain, and number 4 in the field of health. Clare is married to Sir Simon Wessely, a prominent psychiatrist, whom she describes as her inspiration for “always being right and great fun to be with. He is my rock,” she says. * Favourite Film: The Third Man * Three objects Clare cannot live without: Mobile phone, Lucy (my dog), Brompton bike

Clare’s advice to junior doctors is “Stick with it and become a GP! It gives you endless variety.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Fiona Godlee Editor-in-Chief of the British Medical Journal Dr Fiona Godlee is one of the world’s most powerful editors in scientific publishing and the first female Editor-in-Chief in the history of 176-year old British Medical Journal (BMJ). Born in California to a medical family with ancestral relations to Joseph Lister and Sir Oliver Lodge, Fiona wanted to train guide dogs and marry a farmer. She achieved one of those ambitions but regards her decision to study medicine as the best career decision she has ever made.

Fiona qualified in 1985 from Cambridge and then moved back to London to continue training as a general physician. She became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and was then appointed to a one-year editorial internship at the BMJ with every intention to return to full-time clinical practice. She never did. Fiona first joined the BMJ in 1990 and has since written on and lectured on a broad range of issues, including: health and the environment; the ethics of academic publishing; evidencebased medicine; access to clinical trial data; research integrity; open access publishing; patient partnership; conflict of interest; overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Fiona has never regretted leaving medicine because she very much feels like she is still in it. With a CV that is peppered with extensive experience in the editorial f ield, Fiona has held many key roles. As Editorial Director for Medicine from 2000-2002, she helped to establish BioMedCentral, an online open access publisher. She is on numerous advisory and executive boards, including AllTrials, a project advocating that clinical research adopts the principles of open research and that all trials should be listed and shared as open data, and the Peer Review Congress. Another initiative Fiona is involved in is the International Forum for Quality and Safety and Healthcare, which is now in its 21st year. Other enterprises include Evidence Live, Preventing Overdiagnosis, and the cross-professional, international initiative, the Climate and Health Council. She is also Co-Editor of Peer Review in Health Sciences.

Fiona was a Harkness Fellow in 1994 and President of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) from 19982000, Chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) from 2003-2005, and was named Professional Publishers Association Editor of the Year in 2014. She is, however, cautious about being involved in other roles since taking up her current Editor-in-Chief position in 2005, to prevent any conflict of interest. Integrity is important to Fiona. Under her direction, the BMJ has increased both its readership and its international influence, and she wants to make it bigger still. Not afraid to challenge authority Fiona wrote to Jeremy Hunt when the weekend working argument was rife, accusing him of misrepresenting the data. “Bad science can be dangerous,” she says. Challenging and difficult times have taught Fiona to “surrender the outcome; get the process right; ask good people for input, advice and support; be honest and open; don’t be rushed into a decision – the outcome will be right, whatever it is.” Fiona is most inspired by the new generation of medical students and junior doctors (three of her nieces are amongst them), for being so brilliant, working so hard and retaining their calling for medicine against all the odds. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and two children. * Favourite Book: Pride and Prejudice * Three objects Fiona cannot live without: iPhone, my Brompton folding bicycle, A pen in my hand

Fiona’s advice to junior doctors is “To study nutrition. To quote Denise Minger, she says, “if the doctors of today don’t learn about nutrition, the nutritionists of today will be the doctors of tomorrow.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Helen Goodyear

Centenary Souvenir

MB ChB FRCP FRCPCH MD MMEd MA

Associate Postgraduate Dean for Health Education England, and Consultant Paediatrician, Birmingham Dr Helen Goodyear wanted to be a GP throughout medical school and only when she was doing her first year as a House Officer, did she question this. She enjoyed her student attachment in paediatrics and so decided to apply for paediatric jobs. She did her Senior House Officer jobs in Bristol before moving to the Hospitals for Sick Children, London, which was actually two hospitals – Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children in Hackney and Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospitals.

Helen developed her special interest in paediatric dermatology during her first six-month registrar post, which included two months of paediatric dermatology. That was when she decided on her future career and for Helen, this was her best decision. Whilst concentrating on dermatology, she ensured that her general and neonatal skills were kept up to date with a placement at North Middlesex Hospital. The balance of specialist and general training left Helen time to undertake an MD, which was about herpes simplex virus infections in children with atopic eczema. She spent four years training less than full-time (LTFT) and then took up her Consultant post, part-time, in Birmingham when her husband’s job moved to the West Midlands. Helen admits that the move for her was a reluctant one, but that she has since had a wealth of opportunities including developing her deanery role, which may not have been the case if she stayed in London. As part of her Consultant post, Helen was the Lead for Education in the Paediatric Department, and this led to her embarking on a Masters degree in medical education. After six years as a part-time Consultant, she became Associate Postgraduate Dean for LTFT training and subsequently, added careers, professional support and Head of the West Midlands School of Paediatrics to her portfolio. Her Consultant post lends itself to a portfolio career and she spends three days doing clinical work and two days doing medical education.

In 2013, Helen added an MA in managing healthcare careers to her qualifications and received a distinction in this. She is immensely proud of this aspect of her career, as it required much study alongside an already busy work life. It has enabled her to support a number of trainees and believes she has made a difference. Helen has published in clinical and medical education journals and drawn up e-learning modules. She is a reviewer for journals and has been Joint Leader of the teaching and learning module for the Certificate in Healthcare Education at the University of Birmingham. Helen has been active in the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and is Clinical Lead for the Effective Educational Supervisors course, and has delivered a number of these courses over the past few years. She has set up a careers network for non-training grade paediatricians. Additionally, Helen is an RCPCH and DCH examiner and START (taken in ST7) assessor and has been active in setting up the national recruitment for paediatric ST trainees and question writing for recruitment. She was the RCPCH LTFT national training Advisor for a number of years. Other educational roles include Advanced Paediatric Life Support Course Director, PLAB examiner and GMC performance assessor. Helen was Honorary Secretary of the Medical Women’s Federation and President from 2008-2010, being the first President in recent times to hold a two-year term of office rather than only one year. She was Vice-President of the Northern European Office of the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) and is currently Chair of the MWIA Ethics and Resolution Committee, and the Publications Sub-committee of the Centennial (2019) Working Group. She has been instrumental in putting together the MWIA manual on domestic violence, a free on-line resource. Outside her work, Helen has four children and enjoys sport. She is part of the RCPCH Emergency Treatment And Triage Team who regularly travel to Kenya aiming to reduce mortality in children under the age of five. Helen is considering working abroad after retirement as a volunteer, but this will not be for at least a few years yet! *F avourite Film: Pretty Woman – catchy music & a happy ending * Three objects Helen cannot live without: iPad Air, Fitbit alta, Good pair of running shoes

Helen’s advice to junior doctors is “Think carefully about your career and what you want out of it especially if it is compatible with other aspects of your life. Then go for it and do not be put off by the glass or cling film ceiling.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Kate Granger

MBE (1981 – 2016)

Geriatrician and Cancer Patient, Yorkshire Dr Kate Granger will be remembered for starting the #hellomynameis campaign to ensure compassion stayed at the heart of patient care when she was diagnosed with an aggressive and terminal sarcoma. Kate was born in 1981 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire and her earliest ambition was to achieve her grade 8 flute before she finished secondary education. Kate once described herself as quiet, determined and compassionate and was interested in looking after older people when she was still very young. While still at school, she would help out at a local care home for older people, demonstrating her compassionate side. In 1998, Kate left home to go to Edinburgh to study medicine and graduated in 2005 with a BSc in Pharmacology and her MBChB. She returned to Yorkshire to start her clinical foundation year jobs, the first being in medicine at Dewsbury and District Hospital and to marry her fiancé Chris Pointon. Inspired by Dr Frank Phelan, a Consultant Physician in medicine for older people at Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Kate looked up to and wanted to emulate him in her own career. She started her highest specialist training and in 2008, obtained her membership examination of the Royal College of Physicians. She once described her biggest clinical mistake as stopping resuscitation on a frail old lady because she was shown a ‘Do not Resuscitate’ form. However, the form was for another patient. While on holiday in California with her husband in 2011, Kate fell ill and was subsequently diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma. Determined not to let the disease prevent her from achieving her goals, she decided to fight back and do as much as she could that would be useful. On the advice of Dr Phelan, who suggested that she write a diary, Kate started a blog and vowed to live-Tweet, decided to fund-raise and also returned to work. In 2013, Kate started the #hellomynameis campaign, which has to be her greatest achievement. The campaign started as a by-product of her personal experiences in hospital, when many of the staff looking after her failed to introduce themselves. This made her feel unimportant and a disease or a bed, but not a person. Consequently, she built up a social media presence via her blog and began to spread the message to remind people to introduce themselves. Within two years the campaign had been endorsed by more than 400,000 staff across 120 NHS institutions. The campaign has since become embedded in NHS culture and the message has become part of healthcare in over one hundred countries. Instead of resting and recovering, Kate travelled the country promoting the message and fundraising for her chosen local charity, Yorkshire Cancer Centre Appeal. She received the backing of the then Prime Minister David Cameron, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, celebrities, and health leaders across the UK. Kate wrote and published two books charting her battle with cancer, and all proceeds went to her charity. She realised her target of raising £250,000 before she died.

All this time, interspersed with periods of having chemotherapy, Kate continued her training and worked as a Consultant Geriatrician. In 2014, NHS England launched the annual Kate Granger Awards for Compassionate Care to recognise an individual, team or organisation that has made a significant difference to patient care. She was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in recognition of her contribution to health. In 2015, Kate received an MBE and fulfilled one of her ambitions on her ‘bucket list’ and met the Queen at a Garden Party. She received an Honorary Doctor of Science from London South Bank University. Early in 2016 she was awarded the Jane Tomlinson Award for Courage and was named overall Yorkshire Woman of Achievement at a celebratory lunch event held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. She received a Special Achievement Award from the British Medical Journal honouring her work. Kate died peacefully surrounded by her loved ones on 23rd July 2016. * Favourite Film: Forrest Gump

According to her husband Chris, Kate’s advice to junior doctors would have been “Keep giving as good compassionate care as you can do, despite what is happening in the NHS or what is portrayed in the media. Treat patients like you would want to be treated and as though they are a member of your own family.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Selena Gray

Centenary Souvenir

MBChB BSc MD FRCP FFHP

Professor of Public Health, University of the West of England, Bristol Professor Selena Gray trained in Leeds and graduated after doing an intercalated degree in pharmacology, which involved her first (and last) experience with animal research. She completed her house jobs in a professorial unit in Leeds and in a busy district general hospital in Scarborough, enjoying the contrast of both. Selena then spent a couple of years in paediatrics and infectious diseases and accompanied her husband to work in Saudi Arabia as a paediatrician for eighteen months.

Upon her return to the UK, Selena’s husband settled into a GP post in Bristol. Meanwhile, inspired by Sian Griffiths, a PastPresident of the Faculty of Public Health whose achievements demonstrated that a woman can lead an organisation, be highly effective and keep her identity, Selena took up a training post in public health medicine. In a move that she regards as her best career decision, Selena has never looked back. Her first Consultant post was working for the South West Strategic Health Authority, working on the newly established NHS Research and Development Strategy (now the National Institute of Health Research), and during this time, Selena became involved in the UK Faculty of Health and served as Registrar for several years. It was at this time that Selena also served as President of the Medical Women’s Federation. After working in research and development for a few years, Selena did a secondment as Director to the newly established Public Health Observatory, before taking up an academic post at the University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE) in 2002. She has published more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed

journals, four invited book chapters and an array of book chapters and letters across a wide range of public health topics in the field of spatial planning and health, physical activity and older people, injury prevention, and an evaluation of the food for hospital programme. Selena is most proud of a paper that was published in the British Medical Journal looking at the exposure to tobacco advertising across Bristol while she was a public health registrar. She found that there was greater prevalence in more disadvantaged communities. However, not only did Selena conceive the idea for the research and obtain the funding, but she also wrote the paper. It summed up her ongoing commitment and interest in the quality of the environment and its impact on health and wellbeing. Selena led the NICE Collaborating Centre on Spatial Planning and Health and has particular interests in walking and cycling, transport and health, injury, and the interaction with the built environment. Selena was then appointed Associate Postgraduate Dean, initially undertaking one session a week, which over time grew to six sessions a week as Deputy Postgraduate Dean. She was involved in the development of assessment processes for selection into specialist public health training at the national level and contributed to the development of situational judgement tests in this field. She has maintained her interest in developing the public health workforce as a Board Member and Chair of the Education Committee for UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) from 2012-2016 and sits on the Board of Accreditation for the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA). She was Co-Editor of the Journal of Public Health and is now Associate Editor of the Journal of Transport and Health and Public Health Reviews. Selena is Co-Director of the Bristol Health Partner APPHLE HIT, which aims to increase levels of physical activity in older people, and is Capacity Development Lead for CLAHRC West. * Favourite Music: Soave sia il vento, Cosi fan Tutte by Mozart * Three objects Selena cannot live without: Cafetiere coffee cup, Garden hand fork, Black suede ankle boots

Selena’s advice to junior doctors is “Be flexible and learn to recognise when you are working under stress and look after yourself – there are immense strains in the system at present and you are on the front line.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Trish Greenhalgh

OBE

Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences, Oxford Professor Trish Greenhalgh is Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, an internationally recognised academic in primary health care, a practising GP and the author of the bestselling How To Read A Paper: The Basics of Evidence-Based Medicine, published by Wiley and the BMJ, and now in its fifth edition. She also has a parallel career in Triathlons.

Trish always wanted to be a doctor, and her interest was aroused when she saw her older brother falling ill. Trish was only three years old. She applied to Cambridge despite being advised not to by her school teacher because Cambridge did not take ‘her sort’. At the age of seventeen years, she was interviewed for her place at Clare College in Cambridge but was told that seven of her answers were incorrect. As the interviewer, later a Nobel Prize winner, explained the answers, Trish asked more and more questions – a true researcher in the making. She got her place and studied Medical, Social and Political Sciences as her first degree and then Clinical Medicine at Oxford. Having failed an exam at medical school, Trish contemplated dropping out, but was talked out of it by Sir David Weatherall and has never regretted becoming a doctor. She qualified in 1983 before training as an academic GP and worked at University College London until 2010. Trish then spent the next four years working at St Bartholomew’s (Barts) and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2010, she was appointed Professor of Primary Health Care and Dean for Research Impact at Queen Mary University of London and tasked with setting up and leading the Healthcare Innovation and Policy Unit in the Centre for Health Sciences at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2015, Trish was appointed Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences and Fellow of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford, where she leads a programme of research at the interface between the social sciences and medicine. Her work seeks to celebrate and retain the traditional and the humanistic aspects of medicine and healthcare while also embracing the unparalleled opportunities of contemporary science and technology to improve health outcomes and relieve suffering. Her three research areas of interest include the health needs and illness narratives of minority and disadvantaged groups; the introduction of technology-based innovations in healthcare; and the complex links (philosophical and empirical) between research, policy and practice.

She is author of two hundred and fifty peer-reviewed publications and eight textbooks. Trish was awarded an OBE for services to medicine in 2001, received a National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator Award and is the only GP to have twice won the Royal College of General Practitioners Research Paper of the Year Award. In 2006, she received the Baxter Award from the European Health Management Association for Outstanding Contribution to Research in Healthcare Management and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2014. Trish is a member of the Medical Research Council Committee on Good Research Practice, World Health Organisation Expert Advisory Panels on Clinical Practice Guidelines and Research Methods and Ethics and RAND/IHI International Working Group on Patient Safety. Despite her many medical accolades, she is most proud of winning a Team Gold for Great Britain in the 1987 European Ironman Triathlon Championships. Trish admits that her biggest mistake was letting herself get too tired when she worked as a junior doctor in the days before the European Working Time Directive. Although there were no major mishaps, she shudders to think what could have happened if the holes in the Swiss cheese of ‘normal accident theory’ had all aligned. Her greatest inspiration is the NHS surgeon who saved her life last year by doing an emergency operation at midnight. Although it was not a difficult procedure, she recognises that she would not be here if it was not for him. “On many occasions in my own career I’ve had patients similarly overwhelmed with gratitude for something I had done for them that I felt was neither difficult nor onerous, but which made a big difference to their life. This is why it is such a privilege to be a member of the medical profession,” she reflects. * Favourite Opera: Wagner’s Ring Cycle * Three objects Trish cannot live without: Bicycle, Macbook Air, Ergonomic chair

Trish’s advice to junior doctors is “Family comes first. Always. I am about to celebrate thirty years of marriage, and our children (now 25 and 28) tell me that although I was a working mum, I was around for them when they needed me.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Dawn Harper

Centenary Souvenir

MBBS MRCP DCH DFFP

GP and Media Personality, Gloucestershire and London Dr Dawn Harper is a part-time NHS GP based in Gloucestershire. She runs private clinics focusing on women’s health and menstrual disorders and has been working as a media doctor for several years, as one of the UK’s most recognisable doctors. Her ability to simplify complex medical issues has made her an extremely sought-after medical commentator and expert.

Dawn was born in Trowbridge and educated at the prestigious Bath High School, where she enjoyed and excelled in languages as well as science. It was after a stay in hospital for an appendicectomy at the age of twelve, that she announced her ambition to be a doctor. She trained at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, London and qualified in 1987. Her proudest moment was calling her parents and saying, “Hello, it’s Dr Harper speaking!” After completing her hospital training and becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians, she chose general practice as a career, allowing her to better juggle being a mother to young children with a career. As the only female GP in her rural practice, she naturally started to see the majority of patients with women’s health issues and so obtained a Diploma of Child Health and a Diploma of the Faculty of Family Planning. She never dreamt of becoming a TV doctor until she started writing for a magazine and was then offered a role on screen. Dawn is best known as one of the presenters on Channel 4’s hit series ‘Embarrassing Bodies’. Embarrassing Bodies has run for seven series, and spin-offs have included Embarrassing Fat Bodies; Embarrassing Teen Bodies and Embarrassing Bodies: Live From The Clinic. Embarrassing Bodies has been sold to over 120 countries. It has won numerous awards including the Broadcast Award for Best Popular Factual Programme, the Broadcast Digital Award (twice), the prestigious international digital Emmy for Best Digital Programme, the BANFF World Media Award and the BAFTA Craft Award for Digital Creativity and Interactive Creative Contribution (twice). Dawn is one of the regular GPs on ITV1’s ‘This Morning’ and gives medical advice on Tuesday evenings LBC radio and on Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4. She has made guest appearances on shows including 10 O’Clock Live, The Gadget Show, The Wright Show and her latest series, Born Naughty?

Her first book ‘Dr Dawn’s Health Check’ was published by Mitchell Beazley and she has since written a series of books on subjects that include heart disease, digestive health and diabetes, with the aim to simplify conditions such that non-medics can easily understand. She writes for a variety of publications including ‘Healthspan’ and ‘Healthy Food Guide’. There is, however, another side to this celebrity doctor: her endless charity work. She has led a number of cycling challenges, including a 100km ride around the Cotswolds for National Star and a twelve-hour spinathon to raise money for Brain Tumour Research. In 2015, Dawn spent two weeks with just the clothes on her back enduring a survival challenge on Bear Island for Stand up to Cancer. The reason she pushes herself so hard is her own lucky escape in 2013 after a road traffic accident, which left her unconscious and severely injured. It took Dawn two years to recover, and she has realised that nothing lasts forever, but that there is always light at the end of any tunnel. “You may not be able to see it when you are in the depths but it is always there so hang on in, and you will come out the other side,” she says. With an eclectic career, she has learnt never to say never. Dawn did not set out to have a media career but has been fortunate to split her working life between clinical work and media commitments. She seeks her inspiration from Nelson Mandela, who “never gave up and pushed himself to be the best he possibly could. For me, he was simply a superlative human being. I wish I had met him,” she says. * Favourite Book: I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson * Three objects Dawn cannot live without: I went to Bear Gryll’s Island and was literally stranded there with nothing but the clothes I had on. It taught me a lot about what is important in life so I like to think I can do without any material objects – but I did miss my hairbrush and toothbrush

Dawn ’s advice to junior doctors is “Stick with it. It will be tough at times but it is the best job in the world, and good things are worth fighting for.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Jacky Hayden

CBE

Dean of Postgraduate Medical Studies Professor Jacky Hayden’s career in medical education spans over thirty years and culminated in her receiving a CBE in 2013 for services to medical education, an honorary doctorate from St. George’s University, London and she was named as one of the Health Service Journal’s top fifty Inspirational Women in the health field. Jacky’s proudest moment of her career was right at the start when she entered medical school. At that time, the number of women awarded places was low and she graduated from St. George’s Hospital Medical School in 1974. Jacky completed her GP training on t he O x ford Voc at iona l Training Scheme and moved to the North West (NW) to take up a partnership in Bury, Lancashire, where she spent the next thirty years. Jacky led the transformation of the practice to training status and was one of the first GPs to submit herself for an in-depth assessment as part of the pilot activity of Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) by Assessment. She was an active member of the Bury Local Medical Committee and Vice-Chair of the Bury Medical Audit Group. With others, she introduced the concept of linking audit and continuing professional development (CPD) through a practice development plan. She has served as Honorary Secretary, Chair and Provost with the RCGP and was a Member of the NW of England Faculty Office since 1979. She was co-opted onto College Council in 1985 and Chaired the first faculty development group. Jacky remained on the Council for twenty-six years both locally and nationally. In 1991, Jacky was the first female GP to be appointed Regional Adviser in General Practice for Manchester University and the NW Regional Health Authority. She was elected Chair of the Committee of Regional Advisers in England and was also a Member of the Calman Committee on Postgraduate Training. She was one of a small team who introduced summative assessment for general practice, and she joined the Department of Health Working Parties on the Primary Care Led NHS and CPD in General Practice. When Jacky was invited to join the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice quality assurance team, she began a lifelong interest in quality standards for medical education, later becoming a Lead Visitor. She has led visits to almost all regions in the UK and led the first visit reviewing the quality of training in Emergency Medicine.

Jacky was the first GP to be appointed to the post of Postgraduate Dean in England, in 1997 and introduced a systematic approach to quality management of hospital training posts and a training programme for educators. She was Responsible Officer for the largest GMC designated body in this role. From 2008-2012, Jacky was Chair of the English Deans Committee and established a cohesive group of postgraduate deans across England. She was Vice-Chair of the Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans (COPMED) and a Member of Medical Education England (MEE) and the Medical Programme Board. She worked with the National Clinical Director for Innovation to establish a unique Clinician Entrepreneur Training Programme, was Co-Chair of the Joint Working Group on the Quality of Training, a Member of the Academy of Royal Colleges Foundation Committee and represented the Deans on the National Advisory Service work restoring practitioners to practice, called Back on Track. Jacky was Founding Member of the Academy of Medical Educators and has been a Member of the Council since 2012, the same year she delivered the William Pickles Lecture on its 50th anniversary. She is President-elect of the Academy and will take up Presidency in 2017. She was awarded the Foundation Council Award in 2013 and led and contributed to many College initiatives, including representing the College in matters relating to paediatrics and team working. An active member of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, Jacky was awarded Foundation Senior Fellowship of the Faculty in 2016. Jacky received her CBE in 2013. * Favourite Film: The original Star Wars trilogy * Three objects Jacky cannot live without: iPad, iPhone, MacBook

Jacky’s advice to junior doctors is “Always be honest with your patients and colleagues. Trust is essential in healthcare – it takes a lifetime to build and can be destroyed all too easily. When you make a mistake (which you will) apologise, put it right as quickly as you can and do all that you can to make sure that you and anyone else avoid making the same mistake again.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Jenny Higham

Centenary Souvenir

MBBS MD FRCOG FFFP FHEA

Principal of St. George’s, University of London, and Chair of The Medical Schools Council Professor Jenny Higham is Principal of St. George’s, University of London and continues to work as a Consultant Gynaecologist at the St. Mary’s Campus, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. She is the first female Chair of the Medical Schools Council (MSC), which supports medical schools in furthering medical education and research. Most proud of sorting out her inappropriate A ‘levels to get into medicine in the first place, Jenny initially planned a surgical career because she enjoyed practically orientated specialities. However, she was alienated by the sexism she observed in the operating theatre and found her niche in obstetrics and gynaecology after she did this as her last speciality rotation at medical school. Jenny has over thirty years’ experience as a doctor with clinical expertise in the management of abnormal uterine bleeding, outpatient hysteroscopy and reproductive medicine. Jenny will never forget when a woman who had conceived after two years of infertility lost her precious IVF baby. Two days before this had happened, the woman described her premonition that the baby would die to Jenny and had requested the baby be delivered at 33 weeks. Jenny declined this request. Although obstetrically correct at the time, Jenny has struggled with the guilt ever since. Her lesson for challenging times is “you’ll get over it and can move on, even if ‘in the moment’ it feels overwhelming,” she explains. During her almost twenty years at Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, Jenny has held a number of senior positions including Head of Undergraduate Medicine for five years, and then Director of Education in 2009. She retained this title when she was appointed Vice Dean for Institutional Affairs. Jenny was instrumental in establishing the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore, a joint medical school of Imperial College London and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Jenny has extensive responsibilities within the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, and in 2013 was appointed Senior Vice Dean. She is a Member of the governing

board and was Chair of the London-Singapore Board that was responsible for ensuring the course was ready for its first student. The project was shortlisted for the Times Higher Education and the Wharton QS Awards in 2014. As Chair of the MSC, Jenny has been actively involved with the academic medical policy and has previously Chaired the council’s Education SubCommittee, and was Treasurer of the MSC before taking up her role as Chair. She remains a Member of the MSC Assessment Board, represents Higher Education Institutes on the North West London Education and Training Board, is Governor of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and is a NonExecutive Director of the West Middlesex NHS Trust since 2009. Jenny also initiated and became the inaugural President of the Health Sciences Academy, a partnership with Brunel University and Buckinghamshire New University, in 2014, and Chairs their Strategic Board. Additionally, she is a Member of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School Joint Board and Universities and Colleges Employers Association Clinical Academic Staff Advisory Group. In November 2011, Jenny was awarded the ‘Mentor of the Year’ award at the national Women of the Future Awards. In May 2013, she was awarded a President & Rector’s Award for her outstanding contribution to teaching excellence, and in 2014 she received the Imperial College Medal for outstanding leadership. * Favourite Music: Rachmaninov Piano Concerto Number 2 * Three objects Jenny cannot live without: Family, Friends, Phone

Jenny’s advice to junior doctors is “Keep an open mind about where your future may be – had I been told what I would end up doing, I would have laughed out loud.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dame Deirdre Hine

DBE FFHP FRCP

Former Chief Medical Officer, Wales Dame Deirdre Hine is proud to be a woman of many firsts: she was the first female Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of a UK Government Health Department; the first female President of the Royal Society of Medicine; and the first doctor to revolutionise screening and treatment for breast cancer in Wales. Deirdre was born into an industrial family who ran Curran Steel at Cardiff Docks in the 1930s. She was educated at Heathfield House in Cardiff, before going to Charlton Park School in Cheltenham. At the age of twelve years, she told her mother that she would like to be a nurse, but it was her mother who planted the seeds of medicine, asking “why not be a doctor?” So, Deirdre went to the Welsh National School of Medicine (now Cardiff University School of Medicine), which she regards as quite progressive for having a high proportion of female medical students: there were ten women among fifty men. After qualifying in 1961, Deirdre completed her junior hospital posts at Cardiff Royal Infirmary and undertook GP locum jobs in Cardiff and the Welsh Valleys. After a job as Medical Officer for Glamorgan County Council in 1964, Deirdre chose to specialise in public health, where the hours were more compatible with family life. A short career break followed when Deirdre joined her husband in America during which time she had their first child. Their second child was born soon after she returned to the UK, and with no maternity rights, Deirdre left her job. She went back within months’ even though almost all of her salary paid for childcare and cleaners. Deirdre could not bear to waste years of training, and so she started work as a Specialist in Community Medicine for South Glamorgan Health Authority in 1974. In those days, public health doctors worked for councils and were often called out to outbreaks. In 1984, Deirdre was appointed Deputy CMO for the Welsh Office and served in that role for three years, until she took up the post of Director of the Breast Screening Service. During her time as Deputy CMO, a report recommended setting up a breast cancer screening service in Wales. Deirdre was invited to apply and got the job. In 1988, she launched the screening project and frequently encountered opposition; until this time, routine breast checks were not carried out in Wales. Deirdre managed to persuade GPs to refer women with tumours to specialist surgeons while

travelling the country. She wanted every woman seen by Breast Test Wales to have both breasts screened twice and the results to be checked by two separate radiologists. She persuaded those in power that the expense of this, at that time not done in England, would save money in the long run. Deirdre recalls this as her best career decision. Two years later, Deirdre became the CMO for Wales and advised the Secretary of State for Wales on health matters. In this role, she persuaded the Government to move the Accident and Emergency Department from Cardiff Royal Infirmary to another hospital, despite local opposition. She also secured funding for a cancer centre in North Wales so that women did not have to travel to England. Deirdre has held many other senior roles including Chairman of No Smoking Day, Chairman of the Commission for Health Improvement, and President of the Royal Society of Medicine, the first female doctor to hold the position. She was also Chairman of the BUPA Foundation, President of the British Medical Association, and President of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund (RMBF), from 2008-2011. The RMBF had a special bright and vibrant yellow dahlia bred by a dahlia breeder, named ‘Dame Deirdre’ in 2015, to help raise funds. In 1995, Deirdre co-authored the Calman-Hine Report into Cancer Services UK-wide, so that specialist cancer teams were established around the country. In 1997, Deirdre was honoured with a DBE for services to medicine in Wales. A year after retirement she was appointed to the Audit Commission and is presently the President of Age Cymru. * Favourite Film: A Good Year * Three objects Deirdre cannot live without: My washing machine, Kindle, Car

Deirdre’s advice to junior doctors is “Stick at it even when it is most difficult! Medicine is the best profession in the world.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Shirley Hodgson

Centenary Souvenir

BSc BM BCh DM FRCP FRSB

Professor of Cancer Genetics, London Professor Shirley Hodgson began her career as a paediatrician and also spent a year in Iran working as a registrar. Upon her return to the UK, she continued her paediatric training but changed her career choice and entered general practice while her children were young. Shirley initially graduated with a BSc in Physiology from University College London in 1966, a subject she was familiar with as the granddaughter of a well-respected Professor of Physiology.

She then qualified as a doctor from Somerville College, Oxford in 1969. A year later she obtained a Diploma from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and two years later a Diploma in Child Health. When Shirley came to the end of one of her GP jobs and was looking for the next opportunity, her husband spotted an advertisement for a locum clinical genetics post at Guy’s Hospital, which she applied for with success. She started the post and immediately found the work fascinating. After further paediatric posts and membership exams, Shirley returned to Guy’s Hospital for a substantive Registrar post in Clinical Genetics. At the same time, she worked with Professor Victor Dubowitz at the Hammersmith Hospital on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy for her DM. She was appointed a Consultant in Clinical Genetics at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in 1988 and Consultant/ Reader in Clinical Genetics at Guy’s Hospital in 1990. Shirley specialised in cancer genetics from 1989 working with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK), developing regional cancer genetics services at Guy’s, St. Mark’s and St. George’s Hospitals. This included running multidisciplinary clinics for complex genetics conditions such as Von Hippel-Lindau disease and for carriers of genetic variants conferring high risks of breast and ovarian cancer. In 2003, Shirley was appointed Professor of Cancer Genetics at St. George’s, University of London, now Emeritus, and is a part-

time Consultant in Leicester. She describes her move into cancer genetics as her best career decision and one which was inspired by Lionel Penrose, her father, who was an original thinker and who made many novel observations in the field of genetics. He also felt strongly about the wider implications of his work, being vehemently opposed to the Eugenics movement, and set up the Medical Association for the Prevention of War. He taught Shirley never to believe existing dogma without questioning it. She was also inspired by Polani who left Italy after rejecting fascism, learnt English, and worked hard to make ends meet before finally specialising in genetics. Shirley admired his dedication and sheer hard work. Shirley was an external Examiner to King’s College Undergraduate School of Medicine and has successfully established and run a BSc module in cancer genetics at St. George’s since 2008. She is also external Examiner for the Genomics MSc in Birmingham and has supervised and been an Examiner for a number of MD and PhD theses. She is most proud of raising awareness of cancer genetics by writing her book A Practical Guide to Human Cancer Genetics, which is now in its fourth edition. When Shirley started in her specialty there was little appreciation of inherited factors in cancer susceptibility, whereas now about 50% of referrals to clinical genetics departments are for cancer genetics. With over 300 peer-reviewed publications in clinical and scientific journals and many published books, it is no surprise that Shirley spends a lot of her time delivering lectures at home and abroad. She has advised and developed many courses including a genetic counselling course in collaboration with Indian and Chinese colleagues, a cancer genetics course in Italy and has helped to set up and deliver the clinical paediatric curriculum at the New Medical School of Namibia and has made frequent visits there over the past six years. Shirley admits that her biggest mistake was giving the usual dose of an opiate to a man with reduced lung capacity as a house surgeon, which nearly killed him. “I learned that you need to tailor any treatment to the specific needs of the individual,” she says. * Favourite Film: Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo * Three objects Shirley cannot live without: Brompton bicycle, Camera, iPad

Shirley’s advice to junior doctors is “Find an area of medicine that you can become passionate about, and enjoy the special privilege of being in a position to enjoy your career and use your abilities to help others.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Sheila the Baroness Hollins Professor of Psychiatry of Disability, London Baroness Sheila Hollins of Wimbledon and Grenoside, has influence in the House of Lords and the Vatican. She is Emeritus Professor of psychiatry of learning disabilities at St. George’s University of London, an independent crossbench life peer in the House of Lords and Honorary Professor of Spirituality, Theology and Health in the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Durham.

Sheila’s earliest ambition was to conduct an orchestra. Instead, she qualified from St. Thomas’s Medical School and worked as a GP in South London. Early on she met someone with mental health issues and realised that a five-minute slot for such patients was pointless. Characteristically, she looked to challenge this and trained to be a psychiatrist in a move that she regards as her best career decision. Inspired by Joan Bicknell, the UK’s first Professor of the Psychiatry of Mental Handicap and the person who appointed Sheila to St. George’s Hospital in 1981, Sheila worked with children and adults with intellectual disabilities from 1981-2006. In 1990 Sheila became Chair of this department and was twice seconded to the Department of Health as Senior Policy Advisor in learning disability and autism. Being the parent of a son with a severe learning disability has clearly been both a motivator and inspiration throughout her career. Sheila has been a Clinical Specialist, Researcher, and Policy Maker in mental health and has published scientific papers, books and accessible patient materials on the subjects of abuse and mental health. In 1989, she founded the long-running Books Beyond Words series of picture books for young people and adults with intellectual disabilities after discovering that her son understood better through pictures. To date, there are over 50 titles including ‘When Mum Died’, ‘When Dad Died’, and ‘Am I Going to Die?’ all of which serve to empower people with intellectual disabilities in their healthcare and in their everyday lives. Sheila is enormously proud that she has made a difference to so many people. She is also proud of the fact that she is able to speak on their behalf in the House of Lords, as well as in the Vatican. Their voices are little heard in the corridors of power. Further personal tragedy befell the Hollins family when Sheila’s daughter, Abigail, was randomly attacked and paralysed by someone with mental health problems in 2005. What she learnt from challenging times was to “pray (Sheila is a Roman Catholic), be mindful, ask for advice but discern the way forward carefully – always be true to your values.” Between 2005-2008 Sheila served as President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and was instrumental in helping the profession to devise and adopt new ways of working. In 2008 Sheila was Chair of the World Health Organisation Euro Steering Group on the health and wellbeing of children with intellectual disabilities and has worked in a number of national advisory board roles.

In 2011, she was Assistant to the Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor who was one of the Visitators for the Apostolic Visitation of dioceses and seminaries in Ireland. Sheila has served as President of the British Medical Association (BMA) from 2012–2013 and was Chair of the Board of Science of the BMA from 2013-2016. She is currently President of the College of Occupational Therapists in the UK and Chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee at the Centre for Child Protection of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University. The one person Sheila is most inspired by for his energy, wisdom and humanity is Pope Francis, who in 2014, asked Sheila to advise him on the protection of children and vulnerable adults throughout the Catholic church worldwide, and appointed her to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Sheila has received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Durham, London, Sheffield, Bath and Worcester, from the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, and has been awarded the Bronze Medal of the Institute of St. Martin in Florence for her work in the field of disability. She is Fellow of the City Literary Institute in London and recently became the FRED Forum leadership hero. Away from work, Sheila is married with four children and four grandchildren and has been a castaway on Desert Island Discs. * Favourite Film: Dr Zhivago * Three objects Sheila cannot live without: iPhone, Reading glasses, A walking stick for climbing the North Downs

Sheila’s advice to junior doctors is “Remember that each generation must decide its own priorities and find its own solutions. It may be a good idea to admire and build on the contribution of your elders but don’t be too much in awe of them – your ideas will take things so much further!”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Dr Kim Holt Consultant Paediatrician, London

Dr Kim Holt has always enjoyed telling stories and as a child, wanted to be a newsreader or a cameraman. Keen to understand what makes people tick and their experiences, she diverted her energies into child protection and more recently to whistleblowing. Born in Coventry into a working class family, Kim’s father was a painter/ decorator, and her mother came from a market trading family.

The family then moved to Guernsey, and most of Kim’s education was in the Channel Islands. She has fond memories of her positive experience there and chose to apply to medical school due to an underlying desire to be involved with people. Kim trained at St. Bartholomew’s and Manchester. She qualified in 1984, and moved straight into paediatrics after her house jobs. She became interested in working with children with long-term conditions when she spent some time with Dame Barbara Ansell who cared passionately about her job. Kim then transferred her training to community child health and neurodisability. Her first consultant post was in Salford, where she led the multi-agency vision team, a ‘one-stop shop for children with visual impairment’ and developed a community outreach clinic for children with disabilities, general paediatrics and concerns regarding child neglect and abuse. She gained further experience working in community teams when she completed her Masters in Community Child Health from the University of Nottingham in 2001. Her interest in child mental health arose largely from her community experience. In 2004, Kim moved back to London as part of a new team developing community services in Haringey. However, the next ten years were problematic. Like many of her colleagues, Kim was concerned about system issues within the department, and they raised concerns about risks, such as lack of notes available for clinics and delays in report writing. The team saw the loss of a consultant post, (the named doctor for child protection), which had a significant adverse effect on quality and safety, and was a real concern for the remaining team. Two of Kim’s colleagues resigned in 2006, immediately halving the workforce. Kim continued to raise concerns but was increasingly marginalised. She was referred to occupational health, who concluded that she was being bullied and that the workload was just too much. In 2007, Kim went on sick leave with work-related stress, leaving one colleague in the department, who also had several episodes of sick leave. The department was effectively

being run by one locum doctor, Dr Al-Zayyat. While Kim was on sick leave, Peter Connelly (Baby P) was seen in the department by Dr Al-Zayyat who was inexperienced, and saw the child without the benefit of any notes. Sadly, Baby P was killed two days later in a tragedy that has affected so many lives. Dr Al-Zayyat became a public hate figure and was hounded by the press. She was also the subject of a 1.5 million petition to Downing Street asking that she be struck off. She became suicidal. Meanwhile, Kim remained on leave from Great Ormond Street Hospital for the next five years, in a state of limbo. With mounting pressure to accept a £120,000 ‘pay off’ to terminate her contract and stay silent, Kim refused. Kim started to campaign against these confidentiality clauses and with colleagues, founded the campaign group Patients First, which is a network of health professionals that supports whistleblowers in the NHS, in 2011. Although the group was unable to secure a public inquiry, in 2014, Sir Robert Francis concluded that staff bullying by Trusts was unacceptable. Kim presented evidence that she and her colleagues had collated to the Health Select Committee, and is most proud of doing this. She was finally reinstated to her post in 2011. Kim has learnt from her challenging times, to “always be yourself and tell the truth.” She was subsequently appointed Clinical Lead for the department and more recently, Designated Doctor for Safeguarding, and the Medical Advisor to Haringey with regards children. Her best career move was to advise the Care Quality Commission on its inspection methodology to better support whistleblowers, and she believes that her input is starting to make a difference. In 2013 she was named in the Health Service Journal’s Top 50 most Inspirational women in recognition of her work with Patients First. * Favourite Book: The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway * Three objects Kim cannot live without: Yoga mat, Glasses, Teacup

Kim’s advice to junior doctors is “Look after yourselves and build a network of emotional support.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Amanda Howe

OBE MA MEd MD FRCGP

Professor of Primary Care, University of East Anglia, Norfolk Professor Amanda Howe is a practising family doctor, an academic Professor and has an international reputation in family medicine. Amanda’s earliest ambition was to be a female adventurer – a modern day Maid Marion. Somehow, she ended up at the University of London and Newnham College, Cambridge, studying medicine. Amanda chose general practice as a career choice early on at medical school, much to the horror of some of her tutors.

For her, it was her best career decision. Her anatomy tutor even suggested that it would be a ‘waste’ for a ‘bright girl like you’ to become a GP. However, she enjoyed the variety and humanity she found working among people in their community and realised the value of prevention and early intervention that strong primary health care teams can offer. After qualifying in 1979, A ma nd a completed her vocational training in Sheffield and became a full-time partner in a busy inner city practice in 1984. While in this role, Amanda became a mother, GP trainer, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) tutor, and undergraduate teacher. Her passion for giving young doctors contact with the real social and health problems of ordinary people led Amanda to engage further with the academic world, and she undertook both a Masters and an MD as further qualifications. Amanda then took up a fulltime academic appointment and became involved in medical education reform and eventually moved to Norfolk to take up to the role of Professor of Primary Care at the University of East Anglia (UEA). She was also part of the core team setting up a new medical school. During her career, Amanda has held multiple roles. These include Course Director for the UEA medical programme during its early years of development and General Medical Council (GMC) accreditation, Chair of Research at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) from 2000−2005, and Chair of the Society for Academic Primary Care from 2007–

2010. In 2009, she was elected Honorary Secretary of the RCGP and became Vice-Chair of RCGP Council in 2013. Amanda is also a GP appraiser and College Speciality Advisor for revalidation. Apart from championing general practice, Amanda also has clinical and research interests in quality of care, the effective use of education as an intervention to improve care, mental health problems, and patient and public empowerment in health care settings. As an RCGP Officer, she enjoys the leadership challenges of both external change (the Health and Social Care Act) and policy development. One of the most influential pieces of work during her College role has been the RCGP’s ‘Commission on Generalism’, for which she was College Lead and author of the report. Amanda is President of the World Organisation of Family Doctors with the aim of improving family medicine across the world. Amanda is most proud of helping to take the voice of general practice into the academic, specialist and political environment and has learnt not to compromise with bullies and overwork. She was awarded an OBE in 2016 for services to primary care. * Favourite Book: Nelson Mandela – A Long Walk to Freedom demonstrating courage, persistence and the possibility of moral ambition for changing the world * Three objects Amanda cannot live without: Passport, Internet, Bank account

Amanda’s advice to junior doctors is “Be proud of your role as a doctor – and be glad that you can do something morally worthwhile, intellectually stimulating, emotionally satisfying and well-paid.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Henrietta Hughes

Centenary Souvenir

National Guardian of the NHS, London Dr Henrietta Hughes is a practising General Practitioner with over twenty years of experience across primary, secondary and community healthcare. She has been Medical Director for NHS England’s North Central and East London region since April 2013. More recently she was appointed National Guardian of the NHS. Henrietta wanted to be a doctor from an early age after her grandfather made her a surgeon’s outfit.

Even though her mother did not have a higher education, she ensured that Henrietta and her siblings all did. Henrietta had originally planned to have a career in obstetrics and gynaecology, but after she had met her husband, things changed. He worked in the Army, and his various postings resulted in the two of them rarely seeing each other. To address this, they both changed careers, and Henrietta chose general practice (GP), which she sees as her best career move. Describing general practice as fascinating, challenging and emotionally rewarding, she had underestimated how exciting her move really was. During her GP training, Henrietta was inspired by trainer Dr Iona Heath, who always put her

patients first and was a passionate advocate for reducing health inequalities. Henrietta then worked as a GP retainer with an interest in appraisal and education. This was a springboard for her later opportunities, such as being Medical Director (MD) and Responsible Officer (RO). She continues to be inspired by people who never give up. “It is very humbling,” she says. As MD and RO, Henrietta provided system leadership across twelve clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and twelve NHS Trusts, covering a third of London, with almost 3,000 GPs and a similar number of dentists, optometrists and pharmacists. She led the introduction of revalidation and worked with the twelve CCGs and the twelve acute, community, mental health and specialist Trusts in quality improvement. The role enabled her to get a bird’s eye view of the whole health system. Previously she was Acting MD in the North Central London Cluster, was Associate Editor of the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Healthcare, and the Lead Appraiser at Camden Primary Care Trust. In 2016, Henrietta was appointed as the second ever National Guardian of the NHS, with a remit to ensure the right of all NHS staff to speak up without the fear of reprisal. The job was established after the public inquiry at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and was one of the key recommendations made by Sir Robert Frances. In the four days a week Henrietta devotes to the role, she leads, advises and supports the growing network of ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ Guardians within NHS trusts who are responsible for developing a culture of openness within their hospitals. She also shares and advises on good practice in responding to staff concerns, and provides challenge and support for the system so that it has a truly safe and open culture. Henrietta continues to work as a GP one day a week in North London. Despite her many high-profile achievements, Henrietta cannot think of anything she is most proud of that she has done alone. For her, pride is seeing others reach their full potential, and she enjoys anything she has done to help people along this journey. Her only mistake is taking on too much and then knowing that something else will suffer as a result. Like many successful women, “I have to learn to honour my ‘no’,” she says. * Favourite Book: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth * Three objects Henrietta cannot live without: Fitbit, Lip salve, Notebook

Henrietta’s advice to junior doctors is “Everyone thinks today was a hard day. However, I cannot imagine the intensity of your work without the firm structure and the doctor’s mess as a place of refuge. Although General Practice is having a tough time at the moment, it is a really rewarding career and I would highly recommend it. There are so many opportunities for personal development and for building long-term relationships with patients.” www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Dame Janet Husband

DBE FMedSci FRCP FRCR

Professor of Radiology, London Professor Dame Janet Husband is Emeritus Professor of Radiology at the Institute of Cancer Research, and at Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London and Surrey and was the first female President of the Royal College of Radiologists from 2004-2007. Janet was educated at Headington School in Oxford but did not apply to Oxford or Cambridge to study medicine.

Janet believed that a Collegiate University setting would have provided her with a wonderful opportunity to develop a broad and wide education experience. She regards this as one of her biggest mistakes and has learned that it is vitally important to gather as much information as possible about potential opportunities and challenges before making a major life changing decision. After qualifying from Guy’s Hospital and completing her house jobs there, she worked as a General Practitioner while raising her children. In a change of career thereafter, she became the first woman to train part-time in radiology. Janet began her early research on the prototype of the world’s first CT body scanner at Northwick Park Hospital in 1976 and was then appointed to the Royal Marsden as a Research Fellow, focusing on cross-sectional cancer imaging. She was appointed Consultant Radiologist at the Royal Marsden in 1980 and awarded a personal Chair as Head of the Academic Department of Radiology in 1996. Janet is best known nationally and internationally for her pioneering work on the development of imaging, both CT and MRI, in cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital. She has published over two hundred scientific papers and books and has lectured extensively throughout the world. She is co-Editor of the twovolume textbook: Imaging in Oncology, now in its third edition. The first edition was the 1998 winner of the Royal Society’s award for the Multi-Author Textbook of the Year. She served as Medical Director of the Royal Marsden Hospital from 2003-2006, was President of the British Institute of Radiology from 2003-2004 and was President of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) from 2004-2007. During her term of office, she was elected Vice-Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. She is most proud of the research she has undertaken, which has been at the forefront of developing imaging as a pivotal tool in the management of cancer, and of being elected the first female President of the RCR. Janet has held many national roles including the specially appointed Commissioner to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Chair of the National Research Institute in the UK and was a NonExecutive Director of Nuada Medical Group. She was also a Member of the Co-operation and Competition Panel for NHS funded services. Among her many achievements, and together with Professor Rodney Reznek, she founded the International Cancer Imaging Society and was elected its first President. Janet has received numerous awards including Honorary Membership of the

Royal Belgian Radiological Society, the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and the Radiological Society of North America. She was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Radiologists of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the Hong Kong College of Radiologists, the Academy of Medicine of Singapore, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. She received the Gold Medal of European Association and Congress of Radiology in 2006 and of the RCR in 2009. Currently, Janet holds Non-Executive appointments at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Spire Healthcare plc. At Spire Healthcare plc she is Chair of the Nomination Committee and the Clinical Governance and Safety Committee, which oversees the quality of care and development of the group’s clinical services in thirty-eight hospitals across the UK. In 2002, Janet was appointed OBE in recognition of her contribution to cancer imaging, and in 2007, she was honoured with a DBE in recognition of services to medicine. Janet is married and lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, who is a retired paediatrician. They have three sons and seven grandchildren. * Favourite Book: Pigling Bland by Beatrix Potter * Three objects Janet cannot live without: My pearls, iPhone, Mary Berry’s Complete Cookery book

Janet’s advice to junior doctors is “Ensure that any post you apply for is one you will find exciting and will stretch you to achieve the very best of your potential.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Varsha Jain

Centenary Souvenir

BSc MBBS MSc

ST4 in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, London, and Associate at Baylor College of Medicine, Center for Space Medicine, USA Dr Varsha Jain is something of a rare breed – she is a ‘space gynaecologist’ who is boldly going where very few have been before. Born into a non-medical family in Walsall and brought up watching Star Trek (she’s a fan) as a child, her interest in space had already blossomed, even though she admits that at the age of five, she wanted to be a lollipop lady. As a teenager, Varsha could not decide whether to read astrophysics at university or do medicine. She loved physics. However, the decision came to her after she attended the Medlink course in Nottingham. She heard an Ophthalmologist discuss the satisfaction he felt from restoring sight to people in Africa. Varsha realised that she, too, could make more of a difference to people as a doctor. Varsha studied medicine at Imperial College in London. Once again her interest in her alternative passion was piqued when she saw a poster about the first UK space medicine day. She attended the UK Space Biomedicine Conference in 2004 to learn more, and from there, she discovered that she could study medicine of extreme environments. She managed to take time out of her undergraduate training, and moved to University College London for her BSc in physiology. During this time, she focused on the body’s response to extreme environments, such as deep sea diving, at extremes of temperature and of course, in space. Varsha’s BSc was her gateway to her elective. She secured a three-month research placement at NASA Johnson Space Center in 2007. For Varsha, this was a dream come true. At the time, she worked on research related to balance control mechanisms in astronauts when they returned from space. She qualified in 2008 and found herself being drawn to a clinical career in obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G). After completing her foundation year, she started her O&G training in the West Midlands deanery, having ranked the highest in the scoring system. However, within a month of starting her training, Varsha discovered a Masters degree in space physiology and health at King’s College London. She secured a three-year, highly sought after NIHR academic fellowship, which she sees as one of her greatest achievements. This allowed her to follow a clinical academic path and her thesis project saw her return to

NASA Johnson Space Center to investigate the health systems on board the International Space Station. It also allowed her to meet Dr Virginia Wotring, her supervisor, who has helped Varsha go back to Houston for placements where she researches female health in relation to spacef light, and specif ic a lly menstruation and the risk of developing thromboembolism. She has found a much under-researched area and it would be fair to say that she is one of the first doing this as a clinical academic. It has taken Varsha years of dedication, drive and determination to get to the point where she is being taken seriously about the research that she wants to do. There were plenty of naysayers who told her that there was no need for her research, but Varsha ignored them and persevered. She is now back doing full-time clinical training but is applying for grants with her supervisor, so that she can further her research with a PhD. Varsha has been an active member of the UK Space Biomedicine community, has co-led the organisation team for two UK Space Environments Conferences and recently completed a one-year placement as coordinator for the UK Space Life and Biomedical Sciences Association. She has delivered many lectures and talks nationally and abroad to demystify her work, which is not about having babies in space. In 2007, Varsha received the Humans of the Year Award from Vice-Motherboard and was supported in her research by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists/ American Gynaecological Club Travel Fellowship. She also received a Baylor College Travelling Fellowship. * Favourite Music: Maine Pyaar Kiya – a Bollywood blockbuster about determination and drive to succeed * Three objects Varsha cannot live without: Glasses (I am blind without them), Laptop, Phone

Varsha’s advice to junior doctors is “Always follow your heart, passions and dreams but never compromise yourself or your values.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Miss Barbara Jemec

MD FRCS (Plast) EBOPRAS

Consultant Plastic Surgeon, London Miss Barbara Jemec dreamed of being a Plastic Surgeon from an early age having experienced the life through her father who was a plastic surgeon and was always making people whole again. Nevertheless, she believes that ‘it takes a person who wears a bra to recognise another person’s problems in that area.’ She is also fluent in seven languages.

Barbara qualified from the University of Copenhagen in 1991 but completed her postgraduate training in the UK. She took several out of programme experiences during her registrar training to gain specialist skills, including doing an aesthetic fellowship at the Wellington Hospital, London, a six-month fellowship at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, and an attachment to t he Pla stic Surger y Department at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, in 2001. She passed her Fellowship examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) in 1995, obtained her specia list intercol legiate examination in Plastic Surgery in 2002 and passed the European Board Examination in Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery in 2003. Barbara has an MD from University College London, which she was awarded in 2002. Her thesis investigated the relationship between various genes and Dupuytren’s contracture. She was appointed a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Royal Free Hospital in 2004 and specialises in reconstructive surgery after anogenital cancers, hand surgery, skin cancer and works in a multidisciplinary team in all aspects of the problems she covers. She took a further one-year sabbatical in 2015 to advance her surgical skills for the treatment of patients with skin cancer. She has held honorary contracts at St Mark’s Hospital where she provided perineal reconstruction after sacrectomies, and at the Royal Brompton Hospital where she reconstructed complex chest wall defects. Barbara has published extensively and has been invited to lecture nationally and internationally, and has taught several courses at the RCS. She has written two chapters in the latest edition of the Oxford Textbook of Plastic Surgery and is on the

Editorial Boards of the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery and the Journal of Hand Surgery, which allows her to keep abreast of developments in her field. She was elected a Member of the British Association of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgeons (BAPRAS) Council and of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand Council, and was invited to the Plastic Surgery Section of the Royal Society of Medicine Council, where she served as President from 2011-2012. Barbara has also served on the Central Consultant Committee at the British Medical Association and on the Specialist Training Committee for the London Training programme in Plastic Surgery for many years. Her passion outside the NHS is training plastic surgeons in resource-poor countries in reconstructive surgery. She is most proud of establishing the British Foundation for International Reconstructive Surgery and Training (BFIRST), which was launched in November 2014 from BAPRAS where she Chaired the overseas interest group. As the Founding Chairman of BFIRST, she has led humanitarian trips to Cambodia and Bangladesh, and also to Accra, Ghana, La Paz, Bolivia, Bamako, Mali, Makeni, and Sierra Leone with other organisations. Barbara has been successful in receiving the British Medical Association Humanitarian Grant twice, in 2008 and in 2013 to support her overseas work. She was also the recipient of the Mowlem Award from BAPRAS in 2010. * Favourite Film: Bladerunner by Ridley Scott * Three objects Barbara cannot live without: Scissors, Glasses, Passport

Barbara’s advice to junior doctors is “Never compromise high standards.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Melanie Jones

Centenary Souvenir

MBBCh FRCA MA

Director of Medical Career Support, Wales Born in 1954, Melanie Jones’ parents were both in the medical profession. She firmly believes that children should be fully supported to make their own career choices and becoming a doctor to please your parents will not end well. Melanie grew up in Newcastle, Birmingham and London and as the eldest of three sisters, she describes herself as a ‘people pleaser who yearns to be a rebel’.

At school, Melanie aimed to just get the grades that were required rather than work really hard. Upon entry to Cardiff Medical School, she was shocked, not just that she got in, but that she would now have to do some work! After qualifying in 1978, Melanie did her house jobs in Orkney and Cardiff, and standalone jobs in Accident and Emergency and as a GP trainee. As she considered her career options, someone suggested that she tried anaesthetics as ‘it will always come in useful’. So, in 1980, Melanie chose the career that she would pursue for the next thirty years. She completed her anaesthetics training in Wales and Jamaica in 1989 and returned to full-time work. Part-time training opportunities were extremely limited. By now, Melanie was married with her first child. In 1990, she was appointed a Consultant in Bridgend, South Wales and developed interests in obstetric anaesthesia and elderly trauma patients. Her second child was born shortly after, in 1991, to comments such as ‘I told you if you appointed a woman, she’d just go off to have a baby,” said one of her surgeon colleagues. It was at this time Melanie became active with the Medical Women’s Federation (MWF), campaigning for more flexible training opportunities and working patterns. She became President of the MWF in 2003. Melanie had many medical education roles, perhaps as a pleasant diversion from her Clinical Director role, and was

College Tutor and Director of Medical Education locally, followed by Associate Dean for Less Than Full-Time (LTFT) training and Careers in Wales for ten years, from 2003. She was also heavily involved with the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Department of Health (DoH) and was the Flexible Training Adviser at the College and the Chair of the UK Medical Careers Group at the DoH. In 2005, Melanie represented the UK deaneries during the Flexible Working Arrangements discussions with the British Medical Association and the DoH, which defined and promoted flexible training for the first time so that ‘all applications will be treated positively.’ Melanie is most proud of this achievement. As the new training for junior doctors was rolled out, Melanie became the Special Advisor for Careers at the UK Foundation Programme. Most inspired by anyone who asks “why?” she admires people who challenge the status quo. In 2008, Melanie turned her enthusiasm for careers advice into something of a profession when she embarked on a part-time MA in Managing Medical Careers. She graduated five years later having written her dissertation on Specialty Training and Motherhood. With this under her belt, Melanie took a career break in 2013 and a year later became a self-employed Career Development Trainer. Melanie has suffered from many setbacks in her career and is not afraid to admit and learn from them. She struggled when her father died just as she started her medical career and it took her quite some time to bounce back from this. Melanie also took four attempts at the Primary exam and two attempts at the Final, before she passed; and she felt terrible maternal guilt when she was appointed a Consultant, questioning whether this was the right move for her family. When her mother was increasingly dependent, later in her Consultant life, Melanie again struggled with balancing her career but was fortunate to have a supportive husband, peers and colleagues who have helped her at these difficult times. Melanie has learnt to “listen, not to hear but to truly understand. I have two ears, and one mouth so use them in proportion,” she says. * Favourite Book: The Tin Drum by Gunther Grass * Three objects Melanie cannot live without: My teddy bear (he’s just over 62 years’ old), Family photo albums, iPad (I tweet a lot)

Melanie’s advice to junior doctors is “Look after yourself (it is OK to ask for help) and look out for your colleagues (ask are you OK?). Aim for perfection and accept good enough.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Natasha Jones

MBBS MRCGP FFSEM, PG Cert Musc USS

Vice-President of the Faculty of Sport & Exercise Medicine Dr Natasha Jones, Consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) in Oxford and Vice-President of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine is a world-class sportswoman. She has competed twice in Age Group competition in Olympic Distance Triathlon at World Championship level, has thrice completed the Three Peaks Yacht race as well as many other endurance events.

Natasha was born in London and went to school in London and in Dorset. Interested in becoming a doctor, she went to St. Bartholomew’s Medical School and qualified in 1992. She completed her postgraduate training in London and Australia, and she was appointed a General Practitioner (GP) in 1997. After eight years working as a full-time GP, Natasha changed her career to follow her personal passion and dream of SEM. Although a fledgeling specialty at the time, Natasha started her re-training in SEM and eventually became a Consultant in Oxford in 2010. Not afraid of hard work, she is inspired by her father who showed her that hard work is the only way to succeed while having a bit of fun on the way. She now works at the worldrenowned Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, which is part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where she pursues her interest in exercise rehabilitation for people with longterm conditions as well as other musculoskeletal research projects. Natasha is Clinical Lead for the Rheumatology Team, and with one of her SEM colleagues, she is the Lead for the Sport and Exercise, and General Musculoskeletal Medical Services. She is most proud of building up this department over the years, to its now, nationally respected position. Natasha has a wealth of experience in the treatment of sport and exercise related injuries in the NHS, the private sector and in elite sports environments, having treated many elite athletes.

With both her personal drive and her experience, Natasha lectures nationally and internationally on SEM related topics and is something of a household name in this field. She also works for the English Institute of Sport, which provides multidisciplinary services across a wide range of Olympic and Paralympic sports. She has personally attended to athletes from the fields of sailing, hockey, canoeing, athletics, synchronised swimming, wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball. She is based at the Institute’s Bisha m A bbe y Nat iona l Performance Centre. In 2016, Natasha was elected to serve as Vice-President of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, having previously been appointed onto the Council. She aims to help with the continued growth of her specialty, to ensure that services are provided as part of a multi-disciplinary approach across the NHS and promote the value of exercise for the prevention and management of long-term conditions that is currently underplayed by the NHS. Natasha is married to a GP, and they have three children. Having gained her Yachtmaster qualification, she hopes to improve her own racing skills. * Favourite Film: Passage to India * Three objects Natasha cannot live without: My husband, My children, Trainers

Natasha’s advice to junior doctors is “The lazy answer is very rarely the right answer.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Nikita Kanani

Centenary Souvenir

Chief Clinical Officer, NHS Bexley CCG, and General Practitioner, London Dr Nikita Kanani is passionate about improving service provision and access to the NHS for all patients. She is a part-time General Practitioner in South East London and Chief Clinical Officer of NHS Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and until recently was the Chair of this CCG. Nikita has been a GP at Bellegrove Surgery in Welling since 2012, having been a GP trainee there since 2009.

She has held a range of portfolio positions within the CCG to support the development of mental health services, integrated care, primary care, clinical leadership and patient/public engagement. She is the senior Responsible Officer for the new models of care workstream as part of the south-east London Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), a London Board Member for NHS Clinical Commissioners and part of the council for the National Association of Primary Care. Nikita has previously held a number of leadership positions, including National Quality Lead for the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management; Medical Adviser for NHS Direct; Clinical Lead for a large community provider Trust; Primary Care Trust Lead for winter planning and screening assurance; and Service Modernisation Lead for an Acute Trust.

Nikita holds an MSc in Healthcare Commissioning and has a Postgraduate Certificate in Managing Health and Social Care, a Healthcare Financial Management Association Certificate, is a PRICE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments) Practitioner, and a ‘lean’ trainer. She is a recipient of the NHS London ‘prepare to lead’ scheme and holds a DRCOG and Diploma of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health. An active public speaker, this doctor is clearly a doer. She has presented nationally and internationally on opportunities and collaboration in the new NHS. Her best career decision was to embrace the #worklifechaos because according to Nikita, a ‘work-life balance’ does not really exist. “Always leap, jump and hopscotch through the opportunities life presents you. Be like ‘crazing paving’ as a mentor once told me. Take your time having children, or caring for your family, or pursuing your interests – you have one life, so live it well,” she says. Nikita is also a Mentor. She is committed to developing clinical leadership in the rapidly changing primary care landscape. Pulse Magazine named her as a top ‘up and coming’ GP in 2012 and again in 2013. She was shortlisted for the GP magazine first-five Enterprise Award in 2014 and named as one of Health Service Journal’s (HSJ) ‘rising stars’ as well as an HSJ’s top 50 care integrator in 2014, and an HSJ top 50 Inspirational Women in healthcare. In 2016, NHS Bexley CCG was shortlisted in the HSJ Awards category as CCG of the Year. Nikita co-founded and now Chairs the Network, an online community that connects over 3,000 doctors, health professionals and medical students who are keen to improve the quality of healthcare. With her astrophysicist sister, Nikita has established STEMMsisters, an enterprise which aims to inspire and empower people from disadvantaged backgrounds to study ‘STEMM’ subjects and access mentoring and coaching opportunities. Nikita lives with her GP husband and their two children. She regards her husband as her inspiration and is most proud of her family. * Favourite Book: Shantaram – a very real romp through Mumbai which coincided with my own adventures there * Three objects Nikita cannot live without: Photos, The boxes of drawing my kids make for me, Various pieces of artwork by the kids. I am enormously sentimental

Nikita’s advice to junior doctors is “She turned her cant’s into cans…And her dreams into plans.” (Kobi Yamada)

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Parveen Kumar

CBE

President of the Medical Women’s Federation Professor Parveen Kumar, best known by generations of medical students as co-Editor of one of the best known medical textbooks, Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine, now in its ninth edition, always wanted to be a doctor. Born in Lahore, Parveen came to the UK when she finished her education. She qualified from St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School in 1966, after completing an intercalated BSc.

Describing her career as ‘haphazard and unplanned,’ Parveen regards her move into gastroenterology as her best career decision. Under the guidance of Sir Anthony Dawson and Dr Michael Clark, she trained as a gastroenterologist and undertook a period of research leading to an MD. Her major research interests and publications have been in small bowel disorders and in particular coeliac disease and she was an elected Council Member of the British Society of Gastroenterology. Parveen has spent most of her working life in the NHS in the North and the East End of London at St. Bart’s, the Homerton and the Royal London Hospitals. In 1989, she changed the face of medical publishing by co-authoring and editing the medical textbook commonly known as Kumar and Clark, which is used worldwide, and it is her proudest achievement. Having always been interested in medical education, Parveen has been a committed teacher and was the Academic Sub-Dean, and later Director of Postgraduate Medical Education for Bart’s and the London. She has taught medical students, trainees, PLAB doctors, refugee doctors and candidates for the MRCP examination. She is a senior Examiner for the MRCP, MBBS and other postgraduate degrees at home and abroad. Parveen has served on the academic sub-committee of Modernising Medical Careers and was on the London Modernisation Board. In 1999, Parveen was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) at its inception. In the same year she was awarded the first Asian Woman of the Year (Professional) Award. In 2000 she was awarded a CBE in recognition of her services to medicine and two years later Parveen resigned from her role at NICE to take up her appointment as Chairman of the Medicine Commission UK. Parveen had been a Member of the Commission since 1993 and was previously Vice-Chairman. Parveen was Non-Executive Director of an acute hospital Trust Board for three years, and in 2006, she was elected President of the British Medical Association (BMA). In 2008, she received the Gold Medal from the BMA for services to medicine and education. Having held many offices at the Royal College of Physicians and with extensive leadership skills under her belt, Parveen was President of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2010-2012 and became President of the Medical Women’s Federation in 2016. Parveen has learnt that having the love and support of family, as she did from her late husband and her two daughters, have been

key to getting her through challenging times. She believes that the dedication that her generation has had to give to the profession has been passed on and has led to a much better quality of life for the current generation, which includes her medical daughter. Inspired by lots of women over her career, Parveen reflects on her late mother as her greatest inspiration for instilling the values of hard work, honesty and the belief that women can do anything they want to in their lives. * Favourite Colour: Blue * Three objects Parveen cannot live without: Silk scarf, Pencil (for writing in my diary and is easy to rub out), iPad

Parveen’s advice to junior doctors is “Don’t lose your empathy and the joy of looking after patients. Medicine is a fantastic career.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Irene Leigh

Centenary Souvenir

CBE DSc FRCP FRSE FMed Sci

Professor of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Dundee Professor Irene Leigh was born and educated in Liverpool. She completed her undergraduate medical training and intercalated BSc (Hons) in Anatomy at the London Hospital Medical College and was one of only eight female medical students in her year. She regrets not finding her voice when she was the only woman in a room full of men, but knows that she is not alone in that plight. Her then husband, a junior doctor, had to ask the Dean of the medical school for permission to marry Irene. Irene had her first child when she was a junior doctor, and returned to work after only four weeks of annual leave. She obtained her MRCP the same year. Irene then spent two years as a lecturer in medicine at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, before returning to Registrar and Senior Registrar positions in London. She trained as a dermatologist at St George’s Hospital and as a Senior Registrar at the Middlesex Hospital and St John’s Institute of Dermatology. In 1983, Irene was appointed a Consultant Dermatologist at the London Hospital and was also a Research Fellow attached to the ICRF (now the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute). Shortly after her appointment, Irene established a research laboratory, the Centre for Cutaneous Research at Barts and The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London which later developed into a premier research centre in skin biology and disease. Irene became seriously interested in research late in her medical training and was greatly helped on her way by the mentorship of a female scientist, Joyce Taylor Papadimitriou at the ICRF. Irene asked Joyce whether psoriatic keratinocytes responded differently to epidermal growth factor than normal keratinocytes and Joyce encouraged Irene to come into her lab to learn the (then) new technology of keratinocyte culture. This was Irene’s best career move. Joyce also supported Irene when she was appointed a Consultant as her desire to set up a research lab was met with disbelief from those around her. Eventually, Irene was allocated two empty broom cupboards, and these became her first laboratory. Her links with ICRF helped as they gave her some second-hand equipment and a technician. Irene’s research centre now employs more than sixty-five researchers, and she oversees research programmes on nonmelanoma skin cancer, HPV, hair biology, genetic disease, tissue engineering, stem cells, epithelial differentiation and urogenital cancer, each led by a team leader or faculty member and still

centred around keratinocyte biology. In 1992, Irene became Professor of Dermatology having completed an MD degree, and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine in 1999, when she received a DSc (Med), and she was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science. She acted as Research Dean between 1997-2002 and subsequently Joint Research Director of Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry NHS Trust. She was also Dean for e-learning and is most proud of the fact that she has mentored six female dermatology Professors. In 2006, Irene was honoured with an OBE for services to medicine and became Vice-Principal and Head of College of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing at the University of Dundee and additionally Vice-Principal for Research in 2009. She stepped down from these roles at the end of 2011 but retains a research Professorship at the University of Dundee. She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2009, was President of the Association of Physicians of UK and Ireland from 2010-2011, and a Council member of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Irene was President of the Rene Touraine Foundation and is Past-President of the European Society for Dermatological Research and organised a major investigative dermatology meeting in Edinburgh. She has served on multiple grant giving bodies, including the European Research Council, is co-Principal Investigator on a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for Dermatology and Genetic Medicine, and is Director of the Clinical Network of DGEM:BADGEM. In 2012, Irene was awarded a CBE and the Archibald Gray Medal of the British Association of Dermatologists. Irene lives with her non-medical second husband. * Favourite Book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen * Three objects Irene cannot live without: Family photos, Electronic diary, Kindle loaded with e-books

Irene’s advice to junior doctors is “Research is fun and mind expanding.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes Professor of Addiction Biology, and Head of Centre for Psychiatry, Imperial College London Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes went to school in Shrewsbury and enjoyed biology and chemistry, and liked doing projects more than examinations. She struggled with maths. Although Anne applied to medical school, she was not completely sure she wanted to be a doctor, and received five rejections.

decision. She also spent two years working in the USA looking at chemical changes in the brain. Upon her return to the UK, she completed her psychiatry training at Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals and the Institute of Psychiatry, London. With an ongoing interest in research, her work has focused on using neuroimaging and neuropharmacological challenges to characterise the neurobiology of addiction. In particular she has used positron emission tomography (PET) and MR to characterise the dopamine (DRD2, DRD3), opioid (mu), GABAbenzodiazepine (a5 subtype), GABA-B, NK1 receptor systems in a range of substance addictions including alcoholism, cocaine and opiate dependence as well disordered gambling. She focuses on the impact of drugs of abuse, particularly alcohol and aims to improve treatment by better understanding vulnerability to relapse. Anne is considered an international expert on what happens to the brain on taking these drugs of abuse and what may make someone more vulnerable to problems, than others, and is frequently invited to give lectures both at home and abroad. She treats people with alcohol and drug-related problems as a Consultant Psychiatrist at Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust. To improve treatment of addiction using medication in the clinic, Anne has contributed to NICE guidance and led the addiction guidelines from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. She is Chair of the Academic Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and leads the Medical Research Council’s Addiction Research Clinical Training Programme (MARC) and career development panel. Anne is past Honorary General Secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology. She has published extensively in peerreviewed journals and is currently Principal Investigator on a trial investigating whether baclofen improves withdrawal. Anne spends a lot of her time teaching including undergraduate students, on Masters courses, research students and qualified training doctors. She is most proud of seeing the flourishing academic careers of trainees she has supported. She is inspired by Melanie Reid, The Times columnist who provides humour in the face of adversity. Anne finally received on offer to study medicine after she reapplied, and graduated from Oxford University. At this stage, she was still ambivalent about being a doctor and therefore did a PhD at Cambridge University, which she sees as her best career

* Favourite Book: Anne Frank’s diary * Three objects Anne cannot live without: Walking boots, Brompton bike, Coffee machine

Anne’s advice to junior doctors is “To find a good mentor and keep going to reach your goal.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Dr Suzy Lishman President of The Royal College of Pathologists

Dr Suzy Lishman always wanted to be a ballerina and attended ballet classes for many years. Appreciating that this was more of a hobby, she realised her other ambition of wanting to be a doctor. Suzy came from a medical family and is grateful to her aunt, now a retired Respiratory Physician, who showed Suzy that women could have successful careers in medicine. Suzy followed her aunt to train at Girton College, Cambridge, even though her school tried to dissuade her, and then at the London Hospital Medical School. As a student, Suzy used to spend school holidays with her aunt at work, and while watching bronchoscopies, wondered what happened to the biopsies that her aunt took. Whilst a medical student and a junior doctor, Suzy became interested in the scientific basis of disease and enjoyed the challenge of finding out why a patient was ill, how their diagnosis was made and what the most effective treatment was. Her fascination with diseases at the cellular and molecular levels led her to pathology, and she has never looked back. Suzy’s best career move was applying to University College Hospital to study histopathology where she spent five years. Her mistake was taking the Part 1 FRCPath exam at the first opportunity and failing it. Although Suzy had read lots of journals and books, she had not spent enough time looking down a microscope and now realises that it was probably good for her not to sail straight through her training, but it did not feel like it at the time. “You are not in it alone, and the support of colleagues, even at the most challenging times, makes the tough times bearable and even enjoyable,” she says. Suzy was appointed Consultant Histopathologist at Peterborough City Hospital and is now Head of Department and Lead for gastrointestinal pathology. She was an Officer of The Royal College of Pathologists since 2005 and was responsible for the development of the College’s public engagement programme. She has raised the profile of the specialty tremendously by introducing public engagement initiatives such as National Pathology Week, which started in 2008. Since then over 2000 pathology-related events for schools and the public have been held in the UK and beyond. She has also collaborated

with the Science Museum, Royal Institution, Royal Society and Cheltenham Science Festival. Suzy was elected President of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2014 and is the College’s second female President and the first (and only) College President to have her Twitter username on her College business cards. Suzy is an avid user of social media and regards her biggest achievement a s communicating the importance of pathology to non-pathologists. She has continued clinical work whilst President and under her direction, National Pathology Week in 2014 included, for the first time, an annual International Pathology Day. Su z y h a s d e l i ve re d hundreds of talks to schools and interested public groups for many years, and in its inaugural list of the 50 most Inspirational Women in healthcare in 2013, the Health Service Journal described Suzy as the “Public face of pathology” and “the most outward facing person from that specialism.” She appeared on BBC 4’s Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home after her successful work performing ‘virtual autopsies’ at the Old Operating Theatre in London. Suzy is most inspired by Dame Carol Black, who has achieved so much, has huge energy and enthusiasm and has been so generous in supporting others to achieve their potential. Suzy does not believe that she could have been President without Carol’s support and advice. * Favourite Song: Dancing Queen by Abba * Three objects Suzy cannot live without: My mother’s gold Tiffany necklace, My Wedding ring, My cat

Suzy’s advice to junior doctors is “Don’t rush into taking exams you are not ready for. There is a temptation to take them at the earliest opportunity but that can be stressful, and failure can be demotivating. Apply when you and your educational supervisor think you are ready.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Kate Lovett

FRCPsych

Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Dr Kate Lovett’s career choice was influenced by the dinner table conversations she experienced from a young age. As the daughter of an Education Lecturer and a Samaritan’s volunteer, it may explain her career path as a Psychiatrist with an educational interest. She was influenced to choose medicine by visiting a family friend in a mental asylum at the age of fifteen, along with lots of visits to a relative in hospital who suffered from heart disease. Kate realised that she could combine science and humanities with medicine. Kate studied medicine at the University of St. Andrews, which guaranteed clinical training at the University of Manchester. She qualified in 1990 and was awarded a distinction in psychiatry at finals. Although Kate was not convinced that she wanted to be a psychiatrist until after she had qualified, she thoroughly enjoyed her psychiatry attachment as a student. She went on to train as a psychiatrist in the North West and obtained her MRCPsych qualification in 1995. Kate has a longstanding interest in training and education, with a special focus on the development of systems supporting compassionate care and recovery, which is underpinned by values of equity and fairness. Kate then completed her MSc thesis on the role of ovarian steroids in postnatal depression and took up her first Consultant post in Devon in 2001. She immediately started to support trainees and took on educational roles alongside her clinical job as a general Psychiatrist. She completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education with Distinction in 2008 and served on the Education, Training and Standards Committee at the Royal College of Psychiatrists between 2010-2014, and on the South West Division between 2010-2016. Kate was appointed as CASC (Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies) examiner in 2008 and became a Lead Examiner in 2014. She was Head of School of Psychiatry for the Peninsula Deanery for four and a half years until 2016 when she gave up this role having been elected Dean of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She attributes this success to following Sheryl Sandberg’s advice to women to ‘Lean In’. Kate is a Trustee of the College, with responsibility for the education portfolio of the organisation, which includes outreach to schools, supporting undergraduate students, recruitment, training, postgraduate exams, continuing professional development, and developing and running courses and conferences for members. Her role also involves being a spokesperson for the media and delivering talks around the country. Kate is most proud of her Blue Peters Runners Up Badge, which she was awarded at the age of seven. She has also learnt that failure is a teacher from her many challenging times. “We cannot achieve anything on our own; good friends are worth their weight in gold; actively looking after our own well-being is critical and humour is a mature defence mechanism, which needs to be used liberally in both medicine and life,” she says.

* Favourite Book: Anna Karenina * Three objects Kate cannot live without: Soap, iPhone, Running shoes

Kate’s advice to junior doctors is “The old adage that was passed onto me; look after your patients and your career takes care of itself.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Valerie Lund

Centenary Souvenir

CBE

Professor of Rhinology at the Ear Institute, London, and Honorary Consultant ENT Surgeon at the Royal Throat, Nose & Ear Hospital, London Professor Valerie Lund always wanted to be a surgeon. She initially considered plastics, but at the time there were hundreds of plastic surgeons, but none of them were women. A friend of hers suggested ENT because it offered most of the things in plastics that Valerie found interesting and was broad ranging. She is the only designated Professor of Rhinology in the UK. Valerie qualified from London in 1977, obtained her final FRCS in 1982 and completed her MSc in 1986. When she started her training in ENT, the nose and sinuses were becoming interesting with the introduction of endoscopes and CT scanners, and with a guiding hand from Professor Sir Donald Harrison, Valerie chose her specialty. Considered an expert in her field, Valerie attracts a broad base of patients from all over the country and abroad, with special or unusual conditions. She is an Honorary Consultant ENT Surgeon at the Royal National Throat Nose & Ear Hospital, which is part of the University College London Trust, at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College Hospital. Having been involved in endoscopic sinus surgery since the early 1980s, Valerie received worldwide recognition for her extensive and often pioneering work in the field, with honorary membership of eight international societies (Belgian, Danish, Dutch, German, Spanish, Romanian, Russian and South African). As well as being a clinician, Valerie has contributed extensively to the literature with 36 books and monographs, 86 chapters and over 320 peer-reviewed papers. She is frequently invited to lecture at home and abroad, and has delivered 18 eponymous lectures, including the Semon lecture, the Strik Adams Lecture at the Midland Institute of Otorhinolaryngology and the Stell Lectures in the past three years. Valerie has held a number of national and international administrative posts including Chief Editor of Rhinology for ten years, Co-Chair of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Taskforce on Rhinosinusitis (EPOS), General Secretary of the European Rhinologic Society in 2008, and Vice-President of the European Academy of ORL-HNS. She was elected Member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons

of England in 1995, was Chair of the Intercollegiate Examination Board in Otolaryngology until 2007, President of the Section of Laryngology and Rhinology of the Royal Society of Medicine in 2009, and Chair of Women in Surgical Training (WIST) for two terms. Valerie was awarded the Sir Arthur Sims Commonwealth Professorship in 2002, and she is most proud of being awarded a CBE for services to medicine in 2008. She was made the first Snyderman International Ambassador for the American Academy of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery in 2011 and in 2016, she was the guest speaker at the launch of Women in Rhinology at the American Rhinologic Society. In 2009, Valerie was elected to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, was President of the British Association of Otorhinolaryngology and Vice-President of the Federation of Surgical Specialties for the UK from 2012-2015. She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Medicine from the Universities of Brighton and Sussex and has been made an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. In 2018, Valerie will be President of the biennial European Rhinologic Society Congress and ‘Master’ of the triennial British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology. Valerie has learnt to ask for help during challenging times and enjoys archaeology, cooking and eating in her spare time. She is most inspired by her husband, Professor David Howard who has selflessly devoted his life to helping patients and colleagues. * Favourite Film: Some Like it Hot * Three objects Valerie cannot live without: Passport, Car, Laptop

Valerie’s advice to junior doctors is “Always listen to your patients.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Carrie MacEwen

MB ChB MD FRCS FRCOphth FFSEM

President of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists Professor Carrie MacEwen’s earliest ambition was to become a dancer. Realising that her strengths lay in her hands and not in her feet, she became inspired by her innovative surgeon father, who was always keen to train and nurture young ophthalmological talent. Carrie trained in Glasgow, Dundee and London and found ophthalmology the most satisfying job in the world.

Restoring and improving vision is a real thrill, and she found that she could make a huge difference to people’s lives almost immediately. After completing her clinical training, Carrie decided to specialise in strabismus and disorders of ocular motility. Carrie was appointed to her Consultant role at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School in Dundee and her areas of research include epidemiology, paediatric naso-lacrimal disease, ophthalmic trauma, sports medicine and clinical research into strabismus management. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers, written or edited three textbooks and contributed to seventeen undergraduate and postgraduate textbooks. Carrie was also appointed Honorary Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Dundee. With her background in eye injuries and sports medicine, Carrie was well placed to represent the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) in the development of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine and was a member of its founding council and the first Chair of the faculty’s examination committee. Carrie was delighted when the newly formed faculty asked for an Ophthalmologist for the Rugby World Cup, and she was chosen. In 2008, Carrie was elected Vice-President and Chairman of Examinations at the RCOphth and has been a Member of the British Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit Committee since its inception. She has received many national and international awards for her work, including the Gregg Medal for ‘contribution to medical science’, the Founder’s Cup, Ian Fraser trophy, Spencer Walker Prize and the Foulds’ Trophy. Carrie is Associate Postgraduate Dean in the East of Scotland and was appointed to the role of President of the RCOphth in 2014–2017. She is most proud of this achievement as it enables her, with the support of the membership and College staff, to influence meaningful changes in standards for eye health. She is also ophthalmic Specialty Adviser to the Chief Medical Officer and Government in Scotland. Carrie’s biggest mistake is concentrating all her time and efforts on medicine and not developing other interests to their full potential when she was younger. She admits that while she enjoys a happy and fulfilling professional life, she has never taken a break! She has, however, learnt that it is never too late to try to catch up and she will soon be busy honing her more artistic side. Carrie is married, and they have three children.

* Favourite Song: Bridge over Troubled Water * Three objects Carrie cannot live without: Bike (I mostly cycle to work), Computer, Garden shears

Carrie’s advice to junior doctors is “Keep patients as your primary focus – think about what you would want in their position.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Sheona Macleod

Centenary Souvenir

MBChB FRCGP MMEd DCH DRCOG

Postgraduate Dean for East Midlands, and Chair of English Deans Professor Sheona Macleod is Postgraduate Dean in the East Midlands and Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham. Sheona graduated from Glasgow University and trained as a General Practitioner in Paisley, Scotland. She then moved to Derbyshire towards the end of her training.

Medical Officer for Her Majesty’s Prison Service. She is most inspired by Dr Margaret Greenshields, whom she describes as caring and compassionate both in and out of work. Sheona considers her a good GP, a great step-mother, a devoted carer, a supportive friend, a sensible mentor and a valued member of the community. The combination of being good at all of this, and doing it with wit, good humour and gentleness, made her inspirational. Sheona’s best career decision was developing an interest in medical education from an early stage in her career. In the East Midlands, she has been involved in healthcare education since her move to Ashbourne, when she started working for East Midlands Healthcare Workforce Deanery as a GP Tutor in 2002. She then became Programme Director and Associate Postgraduate Dean, and then GP Dean in 2009. In April 2012, Sheona was appointed Acting Postgraduate Dean and became Postgraduate Dean in September 2012. She developed mechanisms for including the primary care providers and trainers and ensured that the essential former deanery functions continued within Health Education England (HEE). Sheona sees the need for greater integration of medical and non-medical workforce development and the opportunity to improve care, and education and training through working on a shared agenda with providers. Her key lesson for challenging times is “that everyone’s views are valuable, and when you think you know the best way forward, a different way of thinking may challenge that and help you achieve the best in the longer term,” she says. In 2013, Sheona was appointed Director of Education and Quality, and her proudest achievement is supporting the development of the regional senior medical educator faculty to have a significant strategic impact. She Chairs a number of national working groups and committees, including the HEE working group on Enhancing Junior Doctors Working Lives. In 2015 she was appointed to the role of Chair of English Deans. She is an Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham and at the University of Leicester, and Deputy Chair of the UK Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans (COPMED). As a GP in Ashbourne for the past twenty-six years, Sheona has held many other roles including working in the local community hospital, an Occupational Health Advisor and a

* Favourite Film: A Christmas Carol * Three objects Sheona cannot live without: Specs, Running shoes, Mobile phone

Sheona’s advice to junior doctors is “Make choices that maintain your resilience, so you can have a career that is great for you and patient care.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Miss Fiona MacNeil

FRCS MD

Consultant Breast & Reconstructive Surgery, London Miss Fiona MacNeil is the first female President of the Association of Breast Surgery and is regarded by many as a leading oncoplastic breast surgeon. The daughter of a butcher turned Church of Scotland minister, Fiona was born in Maryhill, Glasgow and lived in Govan. Although she had working-class roots, she went to a private school when her father took up a job with the RAF.

Fiona’s mother was a theatre nurse at Southern General Hospital and part of the air ambulance crew to the islands off Scotland. She also had a mastectomy and Fiona remembers her mother packing away her strapless evening dresses that she could no longer wear after her surgery. It is perhaps this lasting childhood memory that led Fiona to choose breast surgery. At the age of fifteen, Fiona told her teacher that she wanted to be a surgeon, and her ambition was met with ridicule. Unwavering in her decision, she went to St Bartholomew’s, London and qualified in 1983. She was awarded an MD thesis investigating the first generation of aromatase inhibitors in 1994 and was appointed a Consultant in 1996 at Colchester, where she established and led a highly successful breast unit. She also joined the London Breast Clinic that year. Her most defining moment was doing a research thesis on breast cancer at The Royal Marsden Hospital, which Fiona believes has shaped her career and life. “Never be afraid of change,” she says. She has learnt to be a kind and supportive surgeon and although her mother’s experience may have shaped her career, so has the fact that her job requires empathy and communication beyond that of a technician. In 2006, Fiona moved to The Royal Marsden Hospital, London to specialise in oncoplastic and breast reconstruction surgery, combining optimal cancer outcomes with an aesthetic cosmetic result – something her mother did not have the option of in those days. She works closely with oncologists and plastic surgeons with the aim of preserving the breast and its shape. Fiona’s other main interest is in education and training. She is most proud of being the Breast Tutor at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) and delivering the first ever specialist oncoplastic breast surgery training programme and curriculum. She also established the UK sentinel node biopsy training programme, NEW START, which has saved many thousands of women unnecessary surgery to the axilla and reduced their risks of lymphoedema. Fiona was key to this being rolled out across the country. Fiona is actively involved in local and national research trials and acts in an advisory capacity to a variety of Department of Health committees to optimise breast services and plan future cancer strategy. She lectures widely both at home and abroad. She is an Examiner for the European Board of Surgery, a Member of the Executive Committee of the European Division of

Breast Surgery at the European Union of Medical Specialists, and the Breast representative on the Surgery Advisory Committee of the RCS. In 2010 she became a Fellow of the European Board of Surgery and is now Surgical Director of the London Breast Clinic. In 2011, she was listed as one of Britain’s Top Surgeons in The Times magazine and the next year, she was listed in The Times Top 50 Doctors. Fiona was also included in the Breast section of the Tatler Doctors Guide in 2013. In 2006, Fiona received the Silver Scalpel ‘Trainer of the Year’ award, and in 2014, she was awarded the British Association of Surgery Oncology inaugural Querci Della Rovere Award for excellence in cancer surgery. In 2015, Fiona took up the position of President of the Association of Breast Surgeons and is the first female to ever serve in this role. * Favourite Music: Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner

Fiona’s advice to junior doctors is “Do not lose your humanity and remember every patient is someone’s mother, brother, child, etc.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Professor Averil Mansfield Emeritus Professor of Vascular Surgery, London

Professor Averil Mansfield, now retired, will be remembered as the UK’s first female Professor of Surgery, for her pioneering stroke-preventing arterial surgery, and as the former President of the British Medical Association (BMA) from 2009-2010. Born in Blackpool into a non-medical family, Averil knew from a very early age that she wanted to be a surgeon. Averil went to Blackpool Collegiate School and then to the University of Liverpool to study medicine. She qualified in 1960 and soon after undertook a period of research resulting in an MD. It was her first boss, a Welsh surgeon called Edgar Parry, who was a true inspiration and role model for Averil for being ‘excellent in every way’. After completing her surgical training, she spent some time doing a fellowship in San Francisco and Philadelphia, before taking up her appointment as Consultant Surgeon in 1972. She later moved to Hillingdon Hospital for two years before her final career move to St. Mary’s Hospital in London, in 1982 as Consultant Surgeon and Senior Lecturer, where she enjoyed a highly successful career until she retired. Following her heart and making a move to London was her best career decision. In 1993, Averil was appointed Professor of Vascular Surgery at Imperial College and was the first female Professor of Surgery in this country to become Chairman of a Department of Surgery, a role she continued until 1999. She has been President of numerous organisations, including the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, the BMA, the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Section of Surgery of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). Her other roles include Chairman of the Board of Science of the BMA from 2010-2014, Vice-President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of England from 1998-2000, and she was also appointed a Member of Council at the College. Averil was appointed a Member of the General Medical Council until 2002 when she became Associate Medical Director at St. Mary’s NHS Trust. With an avid interest in medical education, she was Postgraduate Sub-Dean at St. Mary’s Medical School and Chairman of the Intercollegiate Board in General Surgery. She was the first elected Chairman of the Court of Examiners of the RCS England and also spent six years working with the American College of Surgeons. Averil’s succession of prizes, academic distinctions and eminent appointments include a prestigious CBE for services to surgery and women in medicine, a Hunterian Professorship, a Moynihan Fellowship, the Order of Physicians of Lebanon, and an Honorary

Membership and an award from the Association of Women Surgeons in the USA. She has many other Fellowships in the UK, Australia and USA, and countless honorary degrees. She has delivered many invited eponymous lectures and orations worldwide, including the Syme Oration. There is an annual eponymous lecture at Imperial College in her name. Having established herself at a senior level in a profession that was heavily male dominated at the time, Averil has led on several projects aimed at encouraging women to join the profession and address the gender imbalance, especially in surgery. In 1991, she established Women in Surgical Training (WIST) at the RCS, to encourage more women to enter surgery. She also regularly visits schools to make sure that children realise at an early age that women can be surgeons. As one who firmly believes in a culture of openness, Averil initiated and chaired the Professional Standards Board at the RCS, which she set up around the time of the Bristol babies inquiry. Her aim was to ensure high standards of surgical care in the country. Over the years, Averil has raised funds for various charities that she supported. She was Chairman of the Stroke Association and is Vice-President and former Council Member of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. She walked 200 miles coast to coast to raise £28,000 for a research fellowship and raised £250,000 for a lecture theatre in the RCS dedicated to the first female FRCS. In 2007 she walked Hadrian’s Wall for the Stroke Association. Averil’s late husband, John (Jack) Bradley, was also a surgeon and she raised three stepchildren. She lives in London and enjoys music, walking and her grandchildren. * Favourite Music: Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice “Che Faro Senza Euridice” * Three objects Averil cannot live without: My initials pendant given by my (late) husband Jack, Piano, Cello

Averil’s advice to junior doctors is “Keep your sense of humour and always remember why you entered the profession in the first place.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Una Martin Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Equalities, and Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, Birmingham Professor Una Martin is Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Equalities and was appointed to this role shortly after the College achieved an Athena SWAN Silver award in April 2014 under her leadership. Una took the lead in a Women in Academic Medicine (WAM) Steering Group, and their report outlined the reasons why women in medicine are underrepresented in the University sector. She is also Professor of Clinical Pharmacology in Birmingham, where she leads the hypertension service. Una was brought up in Dublin and qualified in 1983. Her mother, who was a dentist working with special needs children in Dublin, has always been an inspiration for Una. Her optimism and warmth saw her through many a crisis, and she still misses her very much. Una decided to do a postgraduate BSc in Pharmacology and this move, her best career decision, confirmed her interest in Clinical Pharmacology. When Una achieved first class honours in her degree, it made her realise that she could aspire to succeed in an academic career. Una then continued with her medical training, and completed her membership exam for the Royal College of Physicians and trained to medical registrar level. From there, she went to Edinburgh to do a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology and then moved again to Southampton to take up a Senior Registrar post in Clinical Pharmacology. Soon after the birth of her first child, twenty-one years ago, Una joined the University of Birmingham as a part-time Senior Lecturer. In 2015, she was promoted to Professor and held many leadership roles there including Programme Director of the NIHR/ Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility from 2011-2015. Her clinical research interests are in hypertension, and she runs the Hypertension Service at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Her contribution to this field has been recognised by a Fellowship of both the British and Irish Hypertension Societies and has had a major impact on how hypertensive patients are diagnosed and treated in the UK and internationally. Highlights include the influence of ethnicity on blood pressure measurement, the relationship of inter-arm blood pressure measurements to ambulatory readings and the difficulty of treating elderly patients to target because of adverse drug reactions. Una has shaped undergraduate teaching in Therapeutics at the University Medical School and has developed a ‘Prescriber’s Licence’ (previously the Therapeutics OSCE). She has also developed the National Prescribing Assessment, which all newly qualified doctors have to pass to take up their Foundation Year

1 posts. She is lead for a hypertension module in the postgraduate MSc in cardiovascular medicine and is responsible for Clinical Pharmacology training in the West Midlands. Una is Chair of the Specialist Training Committee, and she has also received a Fellowship from the British Pharmacological Society. Following the publication of WAM report by the British Medical Association in 2008, Una became an effective advocate for Athena SWAN at Birmingham and led the College of Medical and Dental Sciences self-assessment team (SAT) to their first Silver Award in 2014. Una has ensured the lessons learned have been disseminated across other disciplines and has actively supported schools to achieve awards to date as Chair of the University SAT. Her experience of diversity issues and proactive approach were instrumental in the success of the initiative, Advancing Equality in Employment, which won the first ever Personnel Today Human Resources Award for Equality and Inclusion. In 2015, the University established a Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor role for Equalities to build on progress made, and Una was appointed to this post. Since her appointment, she has overseen the development of a new Equality Scheme encouraging all students and staff to identify ‘one key change’ they would like to see and ensuring that wider equalities are represented, particularly about race, sexuality and disability. Una is married to a nephrologist, and they have two children aged 21 and 17 years. Despite her many high-profile achievements, she is most proud of her children. She worked part-time until 2015 so that she could combine clinical and academic work with raising her family. * Favourite Film: Mama Mia – cheerful and fun * Three objects Una cannot live without: There is no object I cannot live without (but my husband, son and daughter make living great!)

Una’s advice to junior doctors is “Cherish your friendships, ask your seniors for advice and make sure you do not neglect your personal lives.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Miss Clare Marx

Centenary Souvenir

FRCS MD

President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Miss Clare Marx is President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the first female to hold the position in the College’s 217-year history. However, for Clare this is not the legacy she wishes to leave; rather it is that she is a doctor and a surgeon who just happens to be female. Clare has worked as an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust for over 20 years.

Clare did not come from a medical family but was fascinated by medicine and science from the age of five years when she was taken to the Accident and Emergency department. Unlike other children there who were either sitting still or crying, Clare was already doing the rounds by asking people in the waiting room about their medical conditions. Originally keen on doing engineering she instead opted for medicine. She always wanted to spend her life making a difference – something she has been doing ever since. After qualifying from University College London Medical School in 1977, Clare did her house jobs in London. Inspired by one of the surgeons she worked for, she decided to pursue a career in surgery, and specifically orthopaedics. After a series of training jobs in London, she completed an arthroplasty fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA in 1987. Her first Consultant appointment in Orthopaedics was at St. Mary’s Hospital in London and three years later she moved to Ipswich Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in a move precipitated by her marriage in 1989. She has subsequently worked at this Trust for over twenty years. A few years later, Clare became Clinical Director of the Combined Accident & Emergency, Trauma and Orthopaedics, and Rheumatology Directorate. Her leadership roles continued at Ipswich Hospital where Clare chaired the Local Negotiating Committee, the Medical Staff Committee and was heavily involved in many of the hospital’s governance projects. She was Chair of the Trauma and Orthopaedics SAC for two years. Ten years ago Clare’s parents moved to Suffolk to live with Clare and her husband, and although her mother sadly died in 2016, Clare’s father at 94 years continues to provide humour, challenge and a constant source of stories of social and medical care experiences. Her day begins as it ends with her personal trainers – walking a series of working Labrador Retrievers. Clare was awarded a CBE for services to medicine in 2007, and in 2008 she was made a Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Suffolk. She became President of the British Orthopaedic Association from 2008-9, the first female to take on this role, and was elected to the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of England in 2009. She Chaired the RCS Invited Review Mechanism in 2011 and two years later became Associate Medical Director at Ipswich Hospital, with a special remit for revalidation and appraisal.

Clare was elected President of the RCS in 2014, having stopped active orthopaedic practice in March that year. Has the maledominated college changed with this amiable and tenacious woman at the helm? The President’s office certainly has. Instead of framed pictures of male surgeons, many of whom are no longer alive, her office is adorned with large photos of inspirational women surgeons, much like Clare, who are alive and well. * Favourite Colour: Blue

Clare’s advice to junior doctors is “Celebrate and remember the moments of joy in your careers, remember the amazing patients you meet, and look for and feel the pleasure of learning, caring and having fun.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Jean McEwan Vice-Dean for Education, University of Exeter Medical School, and Consultant Cardiologist Professor Jean McEwan initially thought that she would be a nurse – just because that was what many women of that generation did. Then, when she was only five years old, Jean watched an old 1941 film in which Barbara Stanwyck played a feisty young doctor, called ‘You Belong to Me.’ The realisation that women could be doctors was something of an epiphany, and with a change of heart, Jean was going to be a doctor. Coming from a working-class background in Scotland where no one before her in the family had gone to university, Jean succeeded in securing a place at the University of Glasgow. She completed a BSc in 1978 and qualified in 1980 with a commendation. After her house jobs in Glasgow, Jean moved to do a medical Senior House Officer rotation in Nottingham where she gained ‘fantastic clinical experience’. In 1983, she moved to work as a Registrar at the Hammersmith Hospital, and although she did not know it at the time, in retrospect, she believes this was her best career decision. She drew inspiration from her seniors Professor Sir Keith Peters, Professor Sir Colin Dollery and Dr Celia Oakley, who was one of only about three female consultant cardiologists in the UK at the time. Having learnt research methodology during her BSc studies, she undertook a PhD in the Cardiovascular Effects of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide, which she completed in 1986. Jean’s next job was as a Medical Research Council Training Fellow, and she embarked upon a programme of grant-supported research, which addressed a major clinical problem – that of restenosis after angioplasty. In the course of this work, she both developed innovative tools to study the disease process and explored potential treatments. In 1994, Jean became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) of Edinburgh and two years later, a Fellow of the English RCP. She was appointed a Reader in Cardiology in 1998 at University College London (UCL) and spent twentytwo years there, where she led a research group studying vascular disease, focusing on novel therapies for restenosis after angioplasty. She held several university and NHS Leadership roles in support of the UCL MBBS Programme and was interim Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences in late 2012. Jean has supervised thirteen successful MD and PhD students, and her greatest achievement is the success, and career progress of her protégés, many of whom have become professors, consultants, independent scientists or have taken leadership roles in healthcare management. As Academic Lead for Athena SWAN, Jean encouraged and supported UCL divisional applications for Athena SWAN recognition and the collegiate efforts were rewarded by a series of Silver Awards across the UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences, and later a University Silver Award. From 2007-2011, Jean was the RCP London Improving Lives (IWL) Officer and Chaired the IWL committee. From 2011-2012 she was Vice-

President of the Medical Women’s Federation and represented the organisation’s views to the Greenaway Shape of Training Report. Jean was a Member of the inaugural North Central and East London Local Education and Training Board (LETB) and was recently appointed to a shared position to the Health Education England South LETB. In 2014, Jean moved to Exeter to take up the role of Vice-Dean for Education at the University of Exeter Medical School where she has responsibility for the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She is also Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. Jean has made many decisions that might have influenced her career and life but does not regard them as mistakes. Instead, she believes that resilience is about being flexible and able to adapt to circumstances. Her only regret is that she did not learn more about leading and managing teams earlier in her career. * Favourite Film: Crash (2004) * Three objects Jean cannot live without: (Luxuries I love, but can live without) – Skin moisturiser, Fresh cafetière coffee, A regular pedicure

Jean’s advice to junior doctors is “It is easiest to balance work and life when your work is a pleasure, and you consider it a privilege. Look for posts where you can have a little professional control of time and flexibility but also give more to both work and family. Later, create the opportunity for flexibility and personal and professional autonomy for your team.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Mrs Scarlett McNally

Centenary Souvenir

BSc MB BChir FRCS(Tr&Orth) MA MBA FAcadMEd

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Eastbourne and Council Member, Royal College of Surgeons of England Mrs Scarlett McNally is one of the few women who serves on the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS). She qualified as a doctor in 1989 and has three other degrees in Anthropology, Management in the Health Service and Clinical Education. She is a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Eastbourne DGH with an interest in hand surgery and trauma and Director of Medical Education at East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.

Scarlett did her preclinical studies at University College London with an intercalated BSc in Anthropology and then undertook clinical training at Trinity College, Cambridge. Outside of her medical studies, Scarlett practised Karate and has a blue belt. She has since received a 4th Dan black belt. Choosing a surgical career was her best move even though she appreciates how tough it must have been for her husband when she was putting in the long hours. He is a nurse and he dropped his hours to fit in around Scarlett and their four children. Rolereversal at that time was less than usual. Scarlett trained on the South East orthopaedic rotation and undertook a fellowship year in Perth, Australia in 2010. She

became a Fellow of the RCS in 1994 and obtained her trauma and orthopaedic exit examination, FRCS(Tr&Orth) in 1999. In 2002, Scarlett was appointed to East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust at Eastbourne District General Hospital as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon. She leads on increasing day surgery rates, streamlining the patient journey and increasing the skills of the multidisciplinary team. Scarlett coordinated the integrated care pathways for patients with hip fractures and has written patient information leaflets for patients with common orthopaedic conditions. Passionate about getting people to be the best they can be, Scarlett served on the British Medical Association (BMA) Equality and Diversity Committee between 2005-2008, when she took up the additional responsibility of Director of Medical Education at her Trust, responsible for the training of 200 doctors. Regarding education as empowerment, she completed an MA in Clinical Education in 2008 from the University of Brighton, and an MBA in Health Service Management from Keele University. In 2011, she was elected onto the Council of the RCS, only the ninth woman ever to hold this position, and now oversees Women in Surgery, the surgical workforce and medical school liaison. She is also Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and an MSc examiner at the University of Brighton. Scarlett was lead author for the 2015 Academy of Medical Royal Colleges report, ‘Exercise: the miracle cure’ stating that exercise is better than drugs for most conditions at preventing common conditions and reducing the impact of chronic conditions. In an attempt to stay fit herself and reduce her carbon footprint, Scarlett cycles or gets trains everywhere. She was Founder and then Chair of www.bespokecyclegroup.org.uk, aiming to get more people to cycle in Eastbourne. Her greatest inspiration comes from one of her colleagues whom she regards as a great surgeon, who is always calm and polite, despite any chaos around him. He can see the bigger picture and the impact on everyone of any decision. Scarlett lives with her husband who is a nurse working with the ambulance service. They have four children aged 19, 17, 15 and 13 years. *F avourite Book: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman * Three objects Scarlett cannot live without: Brompton bike, Road bike (with basket), Mountain bike

Scarlett’s advice to junior doctors is “Every week focus on what you need to achieve – sometimes doing more of the same thing or more of what you like doing is not the most helpful for the future you.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Neena Modi

MB ChB MD FRCP FRCPCH FRCPE

President of The Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, and Professor of Neonatal Medicine, London Professor Neena Modi is Professor of Neonatal Medicine at Imperial College London, a Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, and President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). She is a practising Clinician and head of a multi-professional neonatal research group addressing the perinatal determinants of life-long health. For a woman whose earliest ambition was to be better than the boys, she has certainly achieved that. Neena was born in South Africa, and her childhood was spent going to school in the United States, UK, Kenya and India. She studied medicine at Edinburgh Medical School, and her earliest memory is how difficult it was in the cold weather! She met her husband, who was also a medical student in Edinburgh, shortly after graduating, In the early 1980s, Neena briefly moved to London, alone, to work with two neonatal greats in the neonatal unit at University College Hospital, where history was being made in the care of newborn babies. Neena was excited to be part of the birth of neonatology, then a new medical speciality. In her best career move to date, she realised what inspired her and has never looked back. She also spent some time training at Liverpool University. The greatest influence on Neena’s professional life has been her father. She was appointed Consultant in Neonatal Medicine at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and later became Professor. Neena leads a multidisciplinary group investigating the impact of intrauterine exposures on life-long health, and employing novel in vivo and in-vitro techniques to identify biomarkers of neonatal outcome and later health risk. She has extensively published her original research in peer-reviewed journals and has authored many chapters in textbooks, commentaries and reviews. Neena and her team have developed and now manage the UK National Neonatal Research Database that contains detailed clinical information about every admission to NHS neonatal units in England, Scotland and Wales. The data are used to improve newborn care through clinical and health services research and by facilitating the delivery of efficient randomised, controlled trials to create a continuous learning healthcare system. Neena is most proud of moving children’s science and research out of its ivory tower and into mainstream paediatrics with the full support of families and young people through the creation of the RCPCH Children’s Research Charter, Children’s Research Fund, Child Health Research Fellowships, and other related initiatives. Her many professional commitments include contributing to many working parties, and health services and research committees. She has held many national roles including immediate Past-President of The Neonatal Society, immediate Past-President of The Academic Paediatric Association of Great Britain and Ireland, Chair of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee, and Chair of the NHS England Infant, Children

and Young People Patient Safety Expert Group. Her deep commitment to advancing the care of the sick newborn in lowresource settings has led to her being Patron of the charities BirthLink and HealthProm, undertaking voluntary teaching and training abroad. Neena lives in London with her husband. They have two grown-up children. * Favourite Film: 2001: A Space Odyssey * Three objects Neena cannot live without: A hot shower, My laptop, Sunshine

Neena’s advice to junior doctors is “You are intelligent: find solutions, shape your own destiny and the destiny of healthcare.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Celia Moss

Centenary Souvenir

OBE

Professor of Paediatric Dermatology, Birmingham Professor Celia Moss has dedicated her life’s work to helping young people with skin conditions. She was brought up on a council estate in Stratford-upon-Avon, where her father was a taxi driver. Celia’s success in her eleven plus exams took her from Broad Street County Primary School to King’s High School in Warwick. Her high school steered her toward Oxford University where she obtained a first class honours degree in physiology.

Celia then went on to do clinical training at University College Hospital in London and qualified in 1975. Medical rotations at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary and the Whittington Hospital followed, and Celia successfully obtained her MRCP in 1978. An incident as a houseman taught her a valuable lesson for the rest of her clinical career: Celia reviewed a patient who was febrile and cachectic but was labelled as having an occult malignancy and discharged him. He was subsequently brought in dead with a diagnosis of missed infective endocarditis. It taught her the importance of questioning diagnoses even when others (including seniors) did not. Having decided on a career in dermatology, she completed her higher specialist training in Newcastle Upon Tyne, where she was inspired by Professor Sam Shuster, her boss, whose critical mind and unwavering intellectual rigour marked her forever. Celia enjoyed the open-ended flexibility that was made available to her to raise her family. As a result, she extended her training and worked at Senior Registrar level for eleven years. Taking time as a junior doctor rather than rushing into a Consultant post was her best career decision and gave Celia time to discover her true interests and aptitudes within dermatology. She undertook a period of research and completed her MD in 1983 and was awarded her CCT in 1985. By the time Celia was appointed as a Consultant Dermatologist in Birmingham, in 1993, she had developed a keen interest in genetic and paediatric dermatology. She enjoyed establishing and delivering multidisciplinary services for children with skin disease and collaborating with research laboratories. This work led to an Honorary Chair at the University of Birmingham. Other national appointments followed including Chair of the British Society for Paediatric Dermatology; Chair of the UK NHS Clinical Reference Group for Specialised Dermatology; Convenor for Dermatology at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Council Member of the Royal Society of Medicine Dermatology Section.

Celia is a Member of the Advisory Board of the British Journal of Dermatology and has served on several national patient support groups. She lectures and teaches at all levels, and has published widely on genetic and paediatric dermatology with 140 peerreviewed articles, 150 published abstracts, nine book chapters in major UK and US textbooks and has written one book. Celia’s commitment to teaching led her to set up an acclaimed course, now in its nineteenth year, which has provided training to most of the current generation of consultants in this field. Now semi-retired, Celia spends much of her time travelling abroad with her clinical pharmacologist husband, supporting colleagues overseas and in particular, in India. Her work has been recognised by a Gold (level 11) Clinical Excellence Award in 2004 and the WellChild Doctor of the Year Award in 2011 in recognition of her support of children with skin disease and for her contribution to the Ichthyosis Support Group for over a decade. She also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2012, the Sir Archibald Gray Medal and Honorary Membership of the British Association of Dermatologists. She was named as a Sunday Times Top Doctor. Celia is most proud of building a dedicated paediatric dermatology team from a part-time minor outreach of neighbouring adult services to a full-time specialist service that treats patients from across the country, with more nurses than doctors, and an international reputation for postgraduate training. In 2016, she was awarded an OBE for years of dedicated work helping young people with skin conditions, and improving and pushing the boundaries of care provided to thousands of children since joining Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 1990. * Favourite Film: Kind Hearts and Coronets * Three objects Celia cannot live without: Pilot Pen, Garden fork, Washing machine

Celia’s advice to junior doctors is “The NHS is a fantastic institution, which is admired worldwide. Don’t give up on it.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Anthea Mowat Associate Specialist in Anaesthesia & Chronic Pain Management, Boston Dr Anthea Mowat was awarded the Pask Certificate of Honour from the Association of Anaesthetists in 2009, and in 2010 she received the British Medical Association (BMA) Medal. She also received a long service award from her Trust Chief Executive in 2012. Anthea lectures nationally on job planning and Staff and Associate Specialist (SAS) issues. Outside of work, she is Governor at Partney Church of England Primary School and a member of Partney choir.

Anthea has been involved in SAS grade representation locally since 1983 and nationally since 2002 and has been a member of the BMA for almost thirty years. She was inspired and encouraged in her roles by Dr Kate Bullen, formerly of the BMA. Her previous national roles have included Deputy Chair Representative Body; a Member of the Annual Representative Meeting (ARM) Agenda Committee, which is the BMA’s main policy-making body; SAS Conference Chair; Deputy Chair of the SAS Committee; and SAS Strategy Policy and Procedure Committee Chair. She was involved in negotiations for the SAS contract between 2003-2008 and is a Member of the NHS Staff Council. Anthea was born in Newcastle and trained to be a doctor in Aberdeen. Her most valuable lesson learned as a medical student has since helped her throughout her clinical career. Anthea recalls feeling out of depth when asked to do a medical locum and to give chemotherapy as she was unsure how to constitute the medications. Although nothing untoward happened, she learned to ask for advice and to recognise her own competencies. She chose anaesthesia as her area of interest early in her career training and undertook her specialist training in Aberdeen and Inverness. Anthea then moved to a rural part of Lincolnshire with her GP husband in 1986 and took a four-year career break to look after her late disabled mother, and during this time, had their two daughters. She was appointed a Staff Grade in Boston in what she describes as her best career decision to enable a balance between her work and family life. She was promoted to Associate Specialist and around the same time started working part-time in the chronic pain unit. She was also Staff and Associate Specialist (SAS) tutor at her Trust for six years, until June 2016, looking after 190 SAS staff. She has a long calling with medical politics and served on the Hospital Staff Committee early in her career and then on the Trent Regional Council. She continues her work as Chairman and Honorary Secretary of the Holland Division. She was also Chair of the Local Negotiating Committee between 2007-2014 and was the first SAS grade doctor to hold such a post. As Chairman of the division, she played a leading role particularly at a time when the division was facing closure, and Anthea has successfully ensured that the division remains active. She was also Deputy Chair of East Midlands Regional Council and Chaired the Conference of Honorary Secretaries of Divisions.

In addition to her work at the BMA, Anthea is a member of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) SAS Committee, and her main portfolio involves workforce and equality/ inclusion. She is currently Chair of the Representative Body. * Favourite Book: A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup, as it combines my love of Agatha Christie with the science of her methods of poisoning * Three objects Anthea cannot live without: Phone, Books, Music

Anthea’s advice to junior doctors is “Keep strong, look after each other, but above all enjoy your work helping patients.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Alison Murdoch

Centenary Souvenir

BSc MD FRCOG

Professor of Reproductive Medicine, Newcastle University and Consultant Gynaecologist, Newcastle Professor Alison Murdoch always wanted to be a mother, and perhaps that is why she entered the world of fertility. Alison was born and educated in Manchester. Her father was a doctor and died when she was young, but she always thought she would follow in his footsteps. She went to Edinburgh Medical School and got married while she was still a student. She qualified in 1975 and moved to Northumberland for her first medical appointments. A lison then completed her obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) training in Newcastle, much of it as a part-time trainee as a result of having four children. She also completed an MD thesis. She was appointed a full-time General O&G Consultant in 1991, but became interested in reproductive medicine, and established the first North East regional fertility service in Newcastle. A few years later, she stopped the obstetrics component and soon after, general gynaecology to concentrate on fertility. Alison was awarded a personal Chair in 2003 although she remained a full-time NHS employee, until she retired from clinical practice at the age of 65, in 2016. She continues her involvement with many ongoing funded research projects. In 1999 when she was unable to obtain adequate facilities for a tertiary fertility service at her hospital, she made her best and perhaps riskiest career move. She took the NHS clinic off site to the International Centre for Life where it has flourished ever since. Now recognised as one of the leading NHS fertility centres in the UK, the Centre undertakes 1,000 cycles of IVF a year, and Alison’s team have been actively involved in research in the early stages of preimplantation human development for 25 years. The Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life provides treatments both according to NICE recommendations and within eighteen weeks of referral. There was a time when Alison was just one of two people in the UK who could legally clone human embryos, and these licences for cloning work are hard to get. Recent successful research to reduce the risk of transmission of mitochondrial disease to the baby has led to UK legislation to enable the translation of the techniques to clinical practice. Alison’s principal role in this was the ethical and regulatory issues related to embryo research and

the donation of embryos and eggs for research. Given the high level of public and political interest internationally in this type of research, this has involved active involvement in many public engagement events. Controversy and bureaucracy is something Alison has learnt to overcome. Her challenges have taught her only to take on tasks that are achievable. “Plan your goal, discuss with colleagues, reflect, document your strategy then discuss and reflect again. When you know that you are right and it is achievable, go for it, be patient and don’t be put off,” she advises. Alison recognises that the use of embryos to create embryonic stem cell lines raised many moral objections and required public, political and regulatory debate and negotiation to be accepted in the UK. The centre in Newcastle, under her direction, banked one of the first lines in the UK and although the therapeutic consequences were not what she expected, the work resulted in a new biological understanding of stem cells and the emergence of Regenerative Medicine. Alison is very proud of this aspect of her career. Alison is inspired by Dame Mary Warnock, for her understanding that moral conflict does not preclude making moral conclusions. This resulted in the permissive legislation in the UK about assisted conception that is internationally respected. She also admires Dames Anne McLaren for her wisdom and understanding of its clinical context. * Favourite Film: Sophie’s Choice – a literary ‘kick in the gut’ that stopped me eating or sleeping for days * Three objects Alison cannot live without: Food, Drink, Warm bed

Alison’s advice to junior doctors is “Doctors are trained to think, analyse, make changes and thus be managers. Relate this to your working environment, your clinical team, as well as clinical decisions. Smile, be positive, firm and take control of your destiny within the NHS.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Elisabeth Paice

OBE FRCP

Experienced Coach, and Former Dean Director, The London Deanery Professor Elisabeth (Lis) Paice was born in Washington DC, the youngest of six children. Her family moved to Montreal, Dublin and then Paris and Lis completed her schooling at the International School in Geneva. She only decided to become a doctor in her final year at school, when she was doing A ‘levels in English, French and History. As a result, she spent the next year cramming science A ‘levels. A chance encounter with the best man at her sister’s wedding resulted in wedding bells for Lis while at Trinity College, Dublin. She then transferred to Westminster Medical School and qualified in 1970. Two years later Lis gained her MRCP, and as a Medical Registrar within the Oxford Region, Lis was able to access the ‘Married Women’s Part-Time Training Scheme’ that was set up by Dame Rosemary Rue. She spent the next seven years training part-time while raising three children and took up a fulltime Consultant Rheumatologist post at the Whittington Hospital in 1982. During her time at Whittington Hospital, Lis became interested in postgraduate medical education and became Clinical Tutor. She was later appointed Associate Postgraduate Dean for North East Thames, with responsibility for the preregistration and senior house officer years and flexible training. She began a series of hospital visits, interviewing this group of junior doctors in every department and every hospital. The findings were shocking and thus began the annual trainee survey, which later became the basis for the General Medical Council’s Trainee Survey, several publications and some much-needed reforms. In 1995, Lis became the Dean Director of Thames Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education and specifically focused on flexible training such that no eligible trainee had to wait for funding, and left her clinical job at Whittington Hospital. Despite much reconfiguration in the region, Lis remained in her role as Dean Director until 2010. She was Chair of the Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans in the UK from 2006-2008. A year later, Lis was invited to be the independent Chair of the North West London Integrated Care Programme and has since been involved with this programme. She was also asked to lead the patient involvement work, which led to the development of the Lay Partner Advisory Group. Her greatest lesson is that she did not learn much earlier to involve patients in the strategic decisions that affect their care. The best career decision Lis made was to keep working beyond the age of 65, but in preparation for her retirement, she undertook training as a Coach and Mentor and developed a passion for this work. She wrote about her learning in New Coach, published in 2012, and the same year she and her sister published a book entitled A Grandparent’s Survival Guide to Childcare. Lis continues to work as a Non-Executive Director at Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is a Visiting

Professor in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences at University College London and at Imperial College London. She is an active Coach and Mentor and now trains other coaches. Lis has made an enormous difference to the work and lives of the next generation of doctors by publishing extensively on doctors in difficulty, workplace bullying, and women in medicine. She is inspired by the commitment and excellence of so many young doctors she has worked with over the years. In 2010 she received the NHS Leadership Academy Award for Mentor of the Year, gained an Honorary Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Educators, and the National Award for Professional Excellence from the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. In 2011, Lis received an OBE for services to medicine, the NHS Leadership Award for Partnership of the Year in 2012 and the London Leadership Award for Patient Champion in 2015. Lis has three children and six grandchildren and lives in London with her husband. * Favourite Music: Manha de Carnivale by Stan Getz * Most inspired by: Atul Gawande for his intelligent analysis of health care issues

Elisabeth’s advice to junior doctors is to “Look after yourself and your family. No-one else will.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Professor Allyson Pollock Director of the Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle

Professor Allyson Pollock is best known for her research into, and opposition to the gradual privatisation and now the breakup of the NHS. Coming from a conventional middle-class family with a strong tradition in medicine – although her father was an engineer – Allyson’s first degree was in physiology. She then studied medicine at the University of Dundee, Scotland, and was on a path to becoming a Medical Consultant, when her first job in London changed her direction. Allyson was working as a Medical Registrar in Hackney, London, having undertaken an eighteen-month medical rotation in Leeds, when she encountered poverty, neglect and decay as she had never seen before. In order to understand the causes of ill health and the roots of inequality and deprivation she faced daily in this job, she entered the North West Thames public health training scheme. Her subsequent Registrar posts in health authorities, the King’s Fund and the Health Education Authority taught her a great deal. After five years of public health training, Allyson completed an MSc at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, whilst doing an academic post at University College London (UCL). Her move into public health is her best career decision and her chosen metier. She was appointed a Public Health Consultant working in Wandsworth Health Authority and a Senior Lecturer in the Public Health Sciences Department at St. George’s Hospital, where she worked for six years on cancer epidemiology and long-term care. Her research interest into the privatisation of the NHS dates back to the late 1980s when she witnessed the closure of long-term NHS places and their subsequent privatisation under Care in the Community. Then, in 1990, a friend in banking told her she must research the detailed plans about the Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) that were gathering pace within government. This was the beginning of two decades of research in that area interrupted by a Harkness Fellowship to California for a year. In the late 1990s, Allyson moved back to UCL as Professor of Health Policy and Health Services Research and Director of Research and Development at UCLH NHS Trust. She then relocated to Edinburgh in 2006 where she set up and directed the Centre for International Public Health Policy. Her latest move in January this year was to Newcastle University as Director of the Institute of Health and Society, having been Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary, University of London and Director of the global public health policy unit since 2011. Allyson has researched and written extensively on privatisation and marketisation of health

care and public services in the UK and internationally, particularly on the PFI infrastructure programmes, international trade and privatisation of funding and delivery. She has extensive interests, which include global health; health systems and services research; inequalities in health care and access to treatment and medicines; the regulation of pharmaceuticals and vaccines; and the epidemiology of injury and the role of sport. Allyson began campaigning against contact rugby when her son was injured while playing the game. In March 2016 along with seventy other academics, doctors and public health professionals, she wrote an open letter to Ministers of health, education and sport, as well as the Chief Medical Officers to ask them to consider the evidence and remove the collision elements of rugby in school systems so that children play touch and non-contact rugby. Allyson was a Founding Member of two national campaigns, Keep Our NHS Public and the Campaign for the NHS Reinstatement Bill 2015. With Peter Roderick, she drafted the NHS Bill 2015, which is currently in Parliament. She is a Council Member of the British Medical Association and is on the Advisory Board of three progressive think tanks. As well as the numerous peer-reviewed articles she has published, Allyson has published three books including, NHS plc: the privatisation of our health care (Verso) and Tackling Rugby: what every parent should know (Verso). She has made over 1000 media appearances and contributed to over 80 articles in newspapers and online. * Favourite Book: East West Street by Philippe Sands – a reminder of the importance of international law/ justice and human rights; collegiality; generosity and kindness to those who are struggling and fleeing from persecution; and of the need for reconciliation * Three objects Allyson cannot live without: Radio (esp BBC programmes), Books, Computer

Allyson’s advice to junior doctors is “Medicine is a privilege to practice – don’t give up on the values which took you into medicine, and don’t be distracted by private medicine.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Jane Povey Deputy Medical Director, Faculty of Medical Leadership & Management (FMLM) Dr Jane Povey is a General Practitioner (GP) in Shropshire with over twenty years of experience under her belt and has undertaken a range of local and national medical leadership and management roles. Jane qualified in 1991 from St Bartholomew’s Medical School in London.

Jane obtained the Diploma of the Faculty of Family Planning in 1994 and the Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1995. Deciding to be a GP was her best career move, and her training included a six-month job as a Medical House Officer in Australia. Her first GP partner post was in Shrewsbury where she worked for a couple of years. After a number of Clinical Assistant posts, she became a salaried GP, and then a sessional GP in Telford. After several years working as a GP, she started to get frustrated at how often the health system did not seem to be meeting the needs of her patients. Consequently, she started to explore other ways of working, both inside and outside the system. This is how Jane became interested in medical leadership.

Her initial foray into leadership was as the GP Representative on the Professional Executive Committee at Shropshire County Primary Care Trust, followed by the post of Shropshire Primary Care Trust and Strategic Health Authority Medical Director. Other roles included West Midlands Strategic Health Authority Medical Director and Clinical Engagement and Leadership Director nationally for Sir Professor Bruce Keogh and Dame Barbara Hakin supporting the design and implementation of the new commissioning system in England. Jane believes that collaborative, inclusive and distributed leadership is necessary to improve patient outcomes and the health and wellbeing of the communities we serve. She now combines working as a GP with many local and national strategic roles with the aim of strengthening professional leadership in health. She is currently Deputy Medical Director for the UK Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management with a lead for primary care and diversity, including women in medical leadership. Other ventures include a consultancy role working as a Clinical Associate for Mazars, a management consultancy firm with a growing speciality in health. This enabled her to offer clinical, managerial and leadership expertise to parts of the evolving commissioning system. She is also a Medical Appraiser both in Shropshire where she appraises GPs and for FMLM appraising medical managers. More recently, Jane set up a new social business called Creative Inspiration Shropshire CIC, to grow individual and collective wellbeing in Shropshire through the creative arts. The social mission is to use high quality participatory creative arts to grow wellbeing and resilience amongst the more vulnerable and isolated in Shropshire. As the Founding Director, she is driving this collaboration with partners locally and nationally across the UK. Jane is also enjoying being a student at the Lloyds Bank Sponsored School for the Social Enterprise Start Up Programme in the West Midlands. Jane’s greatest inspiration comes from her husband for giving her a grounded perspective on life and often helping her to navigate the way forward. Over the years, she has learned not to let self-doubt get in the way of anything. * Favourite Film: Meet the Parents * Three objects Jane cannot live without: My Planner, A large mug, Radio

Jane’s advice to junior doctors is “Remember you have more influence than you think you do – use it.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones

Centenary Souvenir

PhD FRCPCH FRCP FMedSci

Chief Medical Officer for University College London Hospitals Cancer Collaborative, and Professor of Paediatric Oncology, London Professor Kathy Pritchard-Jones’ ambition is to make a step change in cancer patient outcomes and experience in London, by ensuring equitable access to best practice and innovation and understanding the value of the whole pathway. She qualified from the University of Oxford in 1983 after completing a BA in Physiological Sciences in 1980. After her Senior House Officer jobs, Kathy embarked on a PhD in the molecular biology of Wilms tumour in Edinburgh. Doing a PhD at that stage in her career allowed Kathy the opportunity to choose what interested her and she regards this time as her best career decision. After her PhD, Kathy spent over twenty years in clinical and translational research in childhood cancer, much of it at the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute for Cancer Research in Sutton, Surrey. She is leading the European effort, as Chief Investigator, to introduce a biologydriven approach to improving the treatment of childhood renal tumours through the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) Renal Tumours Study Group (www.siop-rtsg.eu). Her major interest in national and international partnership working has led Kathy to apply her experience to adult cancers. She combines her work in childhood cancers with a senior leadership role in cancer strategy as Cancer Programme Director at University College London (UCL) Partners, one of five academic health science systems in England. A major part of this role is as Chief Medical Officer for London Cancer, an integrated cancer system involving twelve hospitals in North and East London, and West Essex and serving a population of over 3.5 million. Since 2010, in these various roles, Kathy has led the redesign of whole pathways of cancer care in partnership with patients, primary care, public health and the voluntary sector, to improve clinical outcomes, patient experience of care, and access to clinical trials and innovation. She works closely with commissioners and academic collaborators to develop ways to evaluate outcomes of whole pathways of care and understand the impact of these changes on local health outcomes. Her biggest mistake has been not to challenge people in authority whose agenda has included a more personal gain perspective. Kathy is also Professor of Paediatric Oncology at UCL Institute of Child Health and a Consultant Oncologist at Great Ormond

Street Hospital. She is part of the executive leadership of the European Network of Excellence for Cancer Research in Children and Adolescents (www.encca.org). This European Commission FP7-funded project aims to create a sustainable infrastructure for international collaborative research across Europe to improve cure and quality of cure for children and young people with cancer. Kathy has held many other international inf luential roles in International paediatric oncology, including Chair of the scientific committee of the SIOP from 2001-2004. At the time, there was conflict in the Middle East, which had the potential to jeopardise the SIOP global annual conference in Cairo. Ensuring that the 2003 Congress remained in its elected home of Cairo, despite the controversy around the safety of travel, was a major challenge for Kathy. She successfully resolved the issue with a show of solidarity and support for professional colleagues who were trying to make a difference to children with cancer. Kathy is enormously proud of this achievement. Kathy was the second President of SIOP Europe from 20072009 at a pivotal moment in clarifying how multi-national clinical trials – essential for the progress of childhood cancer – could continue to be investigator-led under the European Clinical Trial Directive. With over three hundred peer-reviewed publications, Kathy is inspired by Nelson Mandela, whom she believes stuck to his message of all humans being equal. On a personal note, Professor Sir David Fish, the man behind the creation of UCL Partners and the person with whom Kathy has worked most closely, and who encouraged her to take on a challenging leadership position, is another great inspiration. * Favourite Book: Touching the Void by Joe Simpson * Three objects Kathy cannot live without: Corkscrew, Sharp knife, Mobile Phone (but, only recently)

Kathy’s advice to junior doctors is “Learn to take personal responsibility for ensuring your patient’s health care journey is the best it can be and that your patient (and their family/ carers) is well informed about what needs to or is expected to happen to them.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Nazneen Rahman

CBE

Head of Cancer Genetics at the Institute of Cancer Research, London & The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust Professor Nazneen Rahman is a doctor and a scientist, making her a perfect conduit between the NHS and scientific research. Nazneen studied medicine at St Hughes College, Oxford and graduated in 1991. She then completed a PhD in molecular genetics at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in 1999, looking specifically at the molecular genetics of Wilms tumour.

Nazneen completed her clinical training and obtained her certificate of completion of specialist training in clinical genetics in 2001. She now works as Head of the Division of Genetics and Epidemiology at the ICR and Head of the Cancer Genetics Unit at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Together these form the ICR/RM Clinical Academic Genetics Unit. She is Director of the Translational Genomics Laboratory (TGL) clinical gene testing laboratory at the ICR. Through her research, she has

provided screening and treatment options for NHS patients when it comes to cancer genetics. Thousands of families participate in her research studies, which have been highly successful in identifying genes that cause cancer and has performed gene testing for many thousands of individuals, not eligible for NHS testing. She is an internationally recognised expert on cancer predisposition genes and has discovered many such genes, particularly for breast, ovarian and childhood cancers. She is currently leading two innovative translational research programmes. The Mainstreaming Cancer Genetics (MCG) programme is undertaking the technological, scientific and translational work required to make cancer disposition gene testing part of routine cancer care. Her other project, the Transforming Genetic Medicine Initiative (TGMI) is building the knowledge base, tools and processes required to deliver the promise of genetic medicine. Nazneen blogs regularly about her work including on Harvesting the Genome. She engages with both the public and the scientific community on scientific and medical issues, using social media such as Twitter and a new blog entitled Transforming Genetic Medicine Initiative. In 2010, Nazneen was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and at that time she had already identified and characterised four breast cancer predisposition genes, two childhood cancer predisposition genes and two overgrowth genes. In 2014, she was named as Britain’s third most influential woman in the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List 2014 and was recognised in the Evening Standard’s annual list of the 1000 most influential Londoner’s under the category of innovators for the past three years. In 2016, she was awarded the Services to Science and Engineering Award at the British Muslim Awards and later that year she received a CBE for services to medical science. When she is not working, Nazneen plays the piano in her sitting-room every day and is a singer-songwriter. She started recording in 2011 and launched an album, Can’t Clip My Wings, in 2014. * Favourite Film: Legally Blonde * Three objects Nazneen cannot live without: My piano, A snuggly blanket (I don’t do cold), Some means to contact my loved ones

Nazneen’s advice to junior doctors is “It is all worth it. In the years to come, you will always feel proud of these years.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Dr Daghni Rajasingham Consultant Obstetrician & Head of Service, London

Dr Daghni Rajasingam trained in medicine at the United Medical and Dental School, St Thomas’s Hospital, University of London and qualified in 1990. Although she has six aunts and uncles, and a brother, who are all doctors, it was her school rather than her family that influenced her decision to become a doctor.

Her best career decision is taking two years out of medicine to work in Peru in a job that involved logistics for a gas exploration site in the Camisea region and working in the world’s highest altitude copper mine in Antamina. After completing her training in London, she became a locum Consultant Obstetrician at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in 2006. She was appointed Consultant Obstetrician with a specialist interest in Maternal Medicine the year after. Daghni is Head of Service for Obstetrics and Deputy Director for Postgraduate Medical Education. She was an elected Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and was involved in developing the RCOG strategic plan and was an RCOG Trustee Board Member. She is also a spokesperson for the RCOG and has done many radio and television interviews to increase the profile of women’s health nationally and to engage the public in women’s healthcare. Having completed a Masters degree in Leadership and Management, Daghni has held many leadership roles, including Council Member of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM). Daghni was NHS London’s Clinical Lead for Leadership Development, Clinical Lead for London’s Clinical Leadership Network and a Member of the National Task Force for senior female medical leadership. She is also a certified and experienced Mediator. From 2007-2009, Daghni was External Obstetric Advisor to the Confidential Enquiries into Maternal and Child Health Obesity Project and on the National Serious Hazards of

Transfusion Committee. In 2011, she became the RCOG representative on the National Diabetes Audit Steering group. Daghni was appointed to the NICE Guideline Development Group for Social Complications in Pregnancy and was awarded a NICE Fellowship from 2010-2013, during which time she instigated a partnership between NICE and RCOG to support the implementation of guidelines around women’s health. Daghni has worked to improve equality in the NHS and helped develop the NHS Clinical Leaders Network Race Equality Action Leadership Initiative (CLN R E A L), promoting BAME leadership within the NHS. She developed the CLN/ National Clinical C o m m i s s i on i n g G r o u p Congress in 2011 and is the National Lead for inclusion for the FMLM. She was Chair of the BAME Task and Finish Group at the FMLM and a Member of the National Task Force for Women in Medicine, in 2012. Most inspired by her father who was a barrister and a social activist in Malaysia and someone who had the courage to do the right thing, Daghni has learnt to follow her moral compass and do the right thing for her patients. Daghni was listed in the 2013 Health Service Journal (HSJ) BME Pioneers list and named one of HSJ’s Top 50 Inspirational Women in 2014, her proudest achievement yet. Daghni is married with two children. * Favourite Film: Breakfast at Tiffany’s * Three objects Daghni cannot live without: Brompton bike, Hairdryer, Notebook & Pen

Daghni’s advice to junior doctors is “Be curious.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Lesley Regan

MD DSc FRCOG FACOG

President of the Royal College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Professor Lesley Regan was the first woman to be appointed as a Professor and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) south of Scotland, a mind-blowing fact in a speciality where every patient is female. Lesley was also elected the 30th President of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG) in 2016, only the second woman to ever hold this role and the first in sixty-four years.

However, Lesley does not let this gender disparity bother her much and believes this is because of what her inspiring journalist father, who turned distribution manager for a major newspaper, taught her: “You can do anything in life if you try hard enough.” Lesley graduated from the Royal Free Hospital, London in 1980 and was inspired by one of her mentors at medical school, Luba Epzstejn, whose empathy for patients was unforgettable, to specialise in O&G. She moved to Cambridge in 1984, to take up her first Registrar post at Addenbrookes Hospital. Throughout her training, Lesley was frustrated when dealing with distraught couples who had just lost a baby, which is the commonest complication of pregnancy. Thus she went on to work for the Medical Research Council on a project about miscarriage, leaving a prestigious and precious training post to become a penniless research student. In the best decision she has made in her career, Lesley enjoyed the challenges, the excitement and the fulfilment of research, which eventually culminated in an MD thesis. In 1985 Lesley was invited to become a Teaching Fellow at Girton College. A year later she was appointed Director of Medical Studies, a post that she continued to hold until she moved back to London in 1990 when she was appointed Consultant and Senior Lecturer in O&G at St Mary’s Hospital. In 1996 she took up her current post as Chair and Head of Department. Lesley is the Director of the Recurrent Miscarriage Service at St. Mary’s, where a multidisciplinary team that she has developed provides comprehensive investigations and treatment for couples with a history of recurrent early and late miscarriages. This internationally recognised service is the largest in the world and sees around a thousand couples a year. In 2005, she received a ‘Woman of Achievement Award’ in recognition of her services to Reproductive Medicine. Lesley is immensely proud that the NHS

at Sixty picked her work in recurrent miscarriages as a major contribution to the NHS. At Imperial College, Lesley is Deputy Head of Surgery and Cancer, Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee, Director of Women’s Health Research Centre and Co-Director of the UK pregnancy Baby Bio Bank. She is currently Chair of the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD). The synergy of her appointments as Chair of the RCOG Women’s Advocacy and Global Health Policy Advisory Committee, Chair FIGO Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights Committee and Membership of the Royal Society of Medicine Global Health Steering Group, enables Lesley to make a sustainable contribution to global women’s health. She is actively engaged in developing health care policy that encourages, educates and empowers women to promote their health. As Vice-President for Strategic Development of the RCOG from 2014-2016, Lesley expanded the external affairs remit of the College, hosted three International Women’s Day events and secured funding streams to undertake transformational projects, such as improving the quality and delivery of family planning and safe abortion services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Lesley has published two successful books on miscarriage and pregnancy for the public, presented a series of eight BBC Horizon documentaries and was Senior Editor for the Chief Medical Officer’s 2015 annual report. In 2015 she received an Honorary Fellowship of the American College and a Doctorate of Science from University College London for her contributions to women’s health. * Favourite Book: Middlemarch – for relaxation * Three objects Lesley cannot live without: My CD library, Fresh flowers, My late brother’s Etruscan foot

Lesley’s advice to junior doctors is “Work hard and never stop asking yourself is this how I would like my mother, sister or daughter to be treated?”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Wendy Reid

Centenary Souvenir

MBBS FRCOG

Medical Director, Health Education England, and Consultant Gynaecologist, London Professor Wendy Reid qualified from Royal Free Medical School in 1981, with the ambition to become an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist (O&G). Years later, she returned there as a Consultant Gynaecologist. She is also Health Education England’s (HEE) first Medical Director and National Director for Education and Quality. Wendy’s postgraduate training consisted of O&G posts, a year spent doing general surgery, six months in the accident and emergency department, followed by two years of research.

During this time, and in the 1980s, she worked around one hundred hours a week, with no scheduled breaks and felt much like a ‘mushroom’- infrequently fed, poorly trained and somehow randomly expected to mature into a well-rounded clinician. The total length of her post-registration training was twelve years. Appointed in 1994 as a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Wendy soon started to venture into medical education, which had piqued her interest since her Senior Registrar days. She developed the training programme for her department and became the first Training Programme Director in O&G for North London. Soon after she was appointed to the General Medical Council’s PLAB Examination Board, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ (RCOG) Examination Committee and became an external Examiner for MBBS. Her best career decision was stepping into postgraduate medical education, formally as Associate Postgraduate Dean in London in 2001, leading on anaesthetics and paediatric training and sector development across North Central and North East London. This was when she could lead sustainable change. However, Wendy is a believer in taking opportunities as they come along, even if they are not mainstream or approved of by others, as often these turn out to be the best decisions.

Two years later she was promoted to Postgraduate Dean at the London Deanery. In this role, Wendy collaborated with many organisations developing new ways of working for doctors and was the National Lead for the Hospital at Night project for some years and worked as the Clinical Advisor to the Department of Health on the European Working Time Directive (EWTD). Wendy has held many national roles including serving on the Council of the RCOG in 2005 and becoming Vice-President for Education at the RCOG in 2010. She contributed to the Temple Report, which was commissioned to examine the impact of compliance with the EWTD on the quality of training for doctors. She was also President of the National Association of Medical Personnel Specialists (NAMPS) and Lead Postgraduate Dean for general surgery, paediatrics and plastic surgery for the Conference of Postgraduate Medical Deans of the United Kingdom (COPMED). In 2009, Wendy became an Honorary Professor at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London. In 2013, Wendy was appointed Medical Director for HEE, and a year later she took on the additional role of HEE’s Executive Director of Education and Quality. She enjoys this multiprofessional role and the opportunities it gives HEE to deliver a better quality health care workforce and health improvements to the patients and the public through high-quality education and training. She is also leading a workstream looking at the ‘role of the trainee in the service and the function and needs of the dayone consultant.’ She is actively researching new ways of working for clinical and educational roles. Throughout her training, Wendy has been lucky to have had many inspiring role models, including her father who was involved in the early days of the Samaritans as a young vicar; Professor Ruth Bowden, her anatomy Professor at medical school who exemplified how science and humanity came together; and Sir Jack Dewhurst whom she worked for at the end of his career at Queen Charlottes Hospital, and who demonstrated his ability to teach and communicate complex ideas at every opportunity. Wendy lives in London with her husband of thirty-five years, and they have one daughter. * Favourite Book: House of God by Samuel Shem * Three objects Wendy cannot live without: Books, Piano, Family photos

Wendy’s advice to junior doctors is “Remember to enjoy being a doctor; it’s a privilege to be part of people’s lives at times of great vulnerability.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Bhupinder Sandhu

OBE DSc MD MBBS FRCP FRCPCH

Consultant Paediatrician and Gastroenterologist, Bristol Professor Bhupinder Sandhu she was asked whether she intended to get married by the all-male panel at her interview for a place at University College London (UCL) Medical School. Instinctively, she wanted to ask if this was a proposal, but not wanting to jeopardise her chances of getting in, she told them that she planned to devote her life to medicine. She has done just that ever since (but also got married).

Bhupinder came to England in 1963 at the age of twelve. While a medical student, Bhupinder worked as an auxiliary nurse and became involved in student politics as Vice-President of the Medical Society and later Vice-President of University College Student Union. The decision to specialise in paediatrics came in her fourth year. She liked the paediatric team at UCL, and she also enjoyed gastroenterology. After qualifying in 1974, she worked in several teaching hospitals including Great Ormond Street, Kings College, Charing Cross & Westminster, and University College in London. She also worked at Addenbroke’s Hospital in Cambridge, before taking up her Consultant post in Bristol. At the time of her appointment, Bhupinder was the only woman on site at Bristol Children’s Hospital. She established and developed a children’s gastroenterology unit dealing with complex nutritional diseases. The team now includes three consultants and serves the South West population of over 5.5 million people as a tertiary referral centre and is the achievement Bhupinder is most proud of in her career. Bhupinder successfully combined research and clinical work throughout her career, which she regards as her best clinical decision She has published over 120 papers, and Chaired and spoken at many national and international meetings, including working with and advising The Commonwealth Health Ministers Conference and the World Health Organisation. She was a Founder Member, Convenor and Secretary of the British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, BSPGHAN, and hosted its Inaugural and Millennium meetings. In 1991, Bhupinder served as Secretary of the South West Paediatric Society. She was Chairman of the Division of Paediatrics and Member of the Bristol Medical School Admissions Committee. She was an external Examiner for London University, Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, Birmingham University and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Between 1996-

2000, Bhupinder was Secretary of the Hospital Medical Committee of the United Bristol Healthcare Trust and an Elected Member of the British Medical Association Council (BMA). She Chaired the BMA Equality and Diversity Committee and was Chair of a Research Working Group of the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). I n 2 0 05, Bhupi nder was elected President of the Medical Women’s Federation and later, Secretary of the organisation. She served a twoyear term as President of the Commonwealth Association of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (CAPGAN). Outside of her work, Bhupinder has many other public service roles, including Chair of School Governors, Chair of the BBC West Regional Advisory Council and a Member of the maternity and health links. She was appointed a Foundation Board Member of the Food Standards Agency by the Secretary of State and continues to serve as Trustee of the Royal Benevolent Fund. In 2002, Bhupinder received the Asian Professional Woman of the Year Award from Cherie Blair, and in 2008, was named as one of the Women of the Year. A year later she received an Honorary DSc from the University of the West of England for services to medicine, education and equality. Passionate about equal rights for women, she worked for the Chief Medical Officer’s ‘Working Group on Women Doctors’ chaired by Baroness Deach, which subsequently made recommendations to government. In 2013, Bhupinder was honoured with an OBE for services to child health. Bhupinder lives in Bristol with her husband, Richard Whitburn. Their two daughters have followed in their footsteps with careers in hospital medicine. * Favourite Film: The English Patient * Three objects Bhupinder cannot live without: iPhone, Paintings, Books at home

Bhupinder’s advice to junior doctors is “Always put the patients’ needs first but keep a work-life balance.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Centenary Souvenir

Professor Wendy Savage Retired Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, London

Professor Wendy Savage was the UK’s first female Consultant in her field to be appointed at the London Hospital and is a staunch advocate for women’s rights in childbirth and fertility. As a child, Wendy loved chemistry and considered a career as a research chemist. She started to study physics, chemistry, mineralogy and maths at Cambridge, but after seeing what the life of a chemist was, she wanted to be a doctor and have more contact with people.

After her first year, she changed to medicine, but her father disapproved of this move and cut her off with an overdraft of £25 – a lot in those days. While working as a waitress to supplement her grant, Wendy also ran a grocery store for the first eighteen months of her London clinical rotation. She initially failed medicine and surgery finals and qualified in 1960. After her house jobs, Wendy got married and soon after had their first child, working until she was 38 weeks’ gestation. Subsequently, she worked as an Orthopaedic Officer and a GP until she had their second child. The family then moved to Boston, and she had a third child shortly before a move to Nigeria, all the while working in various positions. Wendy’s original exposure to obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) came with a job at a women’s clinic in Enugu, where she saw first-hand several young women die from unsafe abortions. Determined to make a change, she set up a blood bank to help reduce maternal deaths. By the time the family moved to Kenya in 1967, Wendy had decided to specialise in O&G, obtained formal training and completed her MRCOG book. Despite the difficulties she has faced in her chosen specialty, she has never regretted the career move. They had their fourth child in Kenya, while Wendy was

still working because the Professor would not release her from the surgical post. She returned to work within three weeks of delivery. After a period of training in venereology, family planning and psychosexual medicine, and a return to the UK from New Zealand, Wendy started working with the late Peter Huntingford in 1976 as a Lecturer in O&G, in what she considers another one of her best career decisions. They set up a Day Case Abortion Unit, and after he resigned in 1981, Wendy ran the Unit single-handed. She also started doing ante-natal clinics in the community. Suddenly in 1985, Wendy was suspended on the grounds of alleged clinical incompetence citing five obstetric cases and was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. Off the record, she was told that it was because ‘Peter Huntingford and I had had turned Tower Hamlets into the abortion capital of Europe.’ After a high-profile public enquiry, Wendy was exonerated and reinstated. She did not realise just how threatening standing up for the rights of women was to some of her male colleagues; so much so that they tried to get rid of her. She learnt the importance of support from her GP colleagues, the women of Tower Hamlets and thousands of people whom she had never met. “Solidarity is a strength,” she says. In 1989, Wendy was elected to the General Medical Council, and she later became a screener for them. In 1992, she became President of the Medical Women’s Federation and took a sabbatical in 1997 to undertake an MSc in Public Health, which she thoroughly enjoyed. During this time, she also saved the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital from being demolished by getting it listed by Anita Pollack when she was Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Wendy is most proud of this achievement. In 2005, having stepped down from her various roles and by now retired from the NHS, Wendy became involved with the Keep Our NHS Public campaign, which she ran for six years. Wendy has also written a book, Birth and Power, in which she revisits the issues around her suspension. In 2009, Wendy was shortlisted for the British Medical Journal Group Lifetime Achievement Award. * Wendy is most inspired by: The doctors who work in developing countries and war zones caring for patients * Three objects Wendy cannot live without: A radio so I can listen to music and news, A bath to relax in, My Piano

Wendy’s advice to junior doctors is “Never give up once you have decided what you want to do as a doctor. One senior consultant in London told me that there was no place in O&G for married women. I did not accept his advice.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Mrs Sharon Scott Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Divisional Medical Director, Aintree Mrs Sharon Scott knew that she wanted to be a doctor from an early age and attributes this ambition to watching Quincy as a child – even though all his patients were dead! She worked her way through senior school although she regrets giving up French after her GCSE because she could not fit it in. She has learnt to encourage her children to continue learning another language for as long as possible.

Sharon studied medicine at Newcastle Medical School. A f ter qua lif ication, she completed her house jobs and then moved to Liverpool. Her early experiences with surgery led Sharon to consider a career in plastic surgery, but she tried this as a junior doctor and did not enjoy plastics. Her next job was in trauma and orthopaedics (T&O), and once that screwdriver was in her hand, she was sold to T&O as a career. Sharon spent a year demonstrating anatomy and then passed her MRCS examination. This allowed her to move into an orthopaedic registrar training programme in Mersey. She also got married. Sharon was the first person on the rotation to become pregnant and not wanting to upset the apple cart, she timed her maternity leave such that she went off when she was six months pregnant and came back full-time when her child was only three months old. She also mastered the C-arm machine so that she could continue to use the X-ray for her cases and learnt where to stand so that she minimised the amount of radiation she received. Towards the end of her training, Sharon became interested in frames and limb reconstruction and did a trauma fellowship in Nottingham. She was appointed to a Locum Consultant post, which was later made permanent in Leighton Hospital, Crewe, in trauma and elective hip surgery. Around the same time, she separated from her then husband and is most proud that she eventually found a soul mate who has helped her learn more about herself and enabled her success both at home and work. Sharon spent three years in this role. With the advent of major trauma networks and realising her passion for trauma surgery, Sharon moved to Aintree Hospital

in 2010. Soon after, she started negotiations with her colleagues in allied trauma specialties to develop her hospital into a major trauma centre. She was appointed Trauma Lead and was instrumental in the development of the Cheshire and Merseyside Major Trauma Network and the Major Trauma Centre at Aintree. Sharon’s job was initially a combination of elective hip surgery as well as trauma, but over time she has moved to just major trauma. She spent time with her cardiothoracic colleagues to learn how to fix rib fractures for patients with flail chests and now spends a lot of her time fixing complex pelvic fractures. Sharon became Clinical Director for the Aintree Major Trauma Service and was highly commended in the 2015 Health Service Journal as Clinical Leader of the Year for her work in developing the Major Trauma Centre Collaborative. She is now Divisional Medical Director for surgery and continues her clinical work. Her other responsibilities include being on the panel of examiners for the FRCS (T&O) examination, Governance Lead for the Major Trauma Centre Collaborative and a Member of the National Clinical Reference Group for Major Trauma and Burns. Sharon is Co-Chair of the Royal College of Surgeons Course, Damage Control Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery and a Member of the AO trauma faculty. Sharon is a mother of four children and is keen to stay fit, and her annual challenge is to maintain her status as a ‘Tough Mudder’! * Favourite Film: Home Alone * Three objects Sharon cannot live without: Toothbrush, Soap, A book

Sharon’s advice to junior doctors is “Being a doctor is a privilege. Be proud every day of your ability to help people and improve their lives.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Debbie Sharp MA BM BCh PhD FRCGP OBE

Centenary Souvenir

Professor of Primary Health Care, Centre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Professor Debbie Sharp was the first person in her family to go to university. She was encouraged by her tutors to apply to Oxford to read Biochemistry, which she duly did, not realising that there was little ‘bio’ in the degree. She loved Oxford but did not enjoy the course.

In her second year, one of her tutors recognised her plight and introduced her to Dr David Baum, then a Senior Lecturer in paediatrics in Oxford. With his support, Debbie was accepted onto the one-year graduate programme to read pre-clinical medicine. Debbie completed her clinical training in Oxford and considered a career in haematology/ oncology but instead returned to Oxford to train in General Practice (GP). This, her best career decision, was where Debbie felt totally at home. At the end of her GP training, Debbie craved some academic work and took a job in the pharma industry in Holland. She moved to Amsterdam, travelled the world and brought the first SSRI to the European market. In 1983, Debbie was appointed to a Lecturer post at St. Thomas’ Hospital and began formal academic work. Two years later, she received one of the first Mental Health Foundation GP Training Fellowships, which allowed her time to undertake her PhD into Emotional Disorders in Childbearing Women

in the Community. Her experience in Holland had given her a good launch pad for psychiatric research. Upon completion of her research, she was promoted to Senior Lecturer while continuing her work as the first female partner at the Lambeth Road Group Practice. During her eleven years in South London, she developed additional research interests in women’s health and in particular, breast cancer screening and more generic interests in primary care mental health. Debbie took up the newly created Chair in Primary Health Care in Bristol in 1994, the first woman to be appointed to a substantive Chair in Medicine in Bristol and built up a world-class department over the next sixteen years – her proudest achievement. This was not an easy undertaking in what Debbie regards was the toughest but most enjoyable time of her career – setting up a new department in a medical school with a reputation for hostility towards such an initiative was tough. She learnt that at challenging times, it is crucial to talk to trusted colleagues. On the back of an excellent 2004 Research Assessment Exercise, Debbie took the Centre for Academic Primary Care into the newly created NIHR School for Primary Care Research. Over the years, she became Head of the School of Medicine; sat on the General Medical Council (GMC); on the GMC Education Committee; was Chair of the GMC Research Committee; Chair of the Medical School Council’s Women in Academic Medicine Working Party; and sat on numerous national grant awarding bodies. All this time, Debbie continued as Head of Department, seeing patients at a local practice one day a week and maintained a serious research output. Debbie developed the Academic Foundation Programme and was instrumental in developing the Wellcome Trust and Academy of Medical Sciences INSPIRE programme for medical students. She has been Head of the School of Clinical Academic Training at the Severn Deanery, recognised as a model for other regions. In 2016, Debbie was awarded an OBE for services to Primary Care. * Favourite Book: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt * Three objects Debbie cannot live without: iPhone, Coffee machine, Corkscrew!

Debbie’s advice to junior doctors is “To choose your specialty and your life partner carefully.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Rosalind Smyth

CBE

Director, Institute of Child Health, University College London, and Honorary Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician, Great Ormond Street Hospital. Professor Ros Smyth was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and studied medicine at Clare College, Cambridge University obtaining a BA in 1980. When she applied to Cambridge at the beginning of her A ‘level year, Ros missed the closing date, and no-one from her school had been there before. Ros rapidly prepared herself for the entrance exams and got in by the skin of her teeth. The experience of getting into Cambridge, her best career decision, has taught her to seize opportunities, which is important for a successful career. Ros then attended Westminster Medical School, London and graduated in 1983. She trained in paediatrics in London, Cambridge and Liverpool and completed her MRCP(UK) in 1986. Ros then undertook a period of research leading to an MD in 1993 and was accredited in paediatrics with a special interest in respiratory medicine in 1995. Until September 2012, when Ros moved to Great Ormond Street Hospital, she was Professor of Paediatric Medicine at the University of Liverpool and Executive Director of Liverpool Health Partners. From 2005-2012 she was Director of the NIHR Medicines for Children Research Network, which supported all clinical research involving children in England. In Liverpool, Ros was closely involved with the development of the MB ChB curriculum and was a Member of the Curriculum Review Board (2000-2) and then its Chair (2002-4). She had specific responsibility for Integrated Clinical Academic Training, which included managing the interface between undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and structuring the postgraduate academic training programme. Ros has been an Examiner in paediatrics for the University of London Gold Medal, for the University of Hong Kong and the National University of Ireland. Ros is clearly a team player, and she sees all her achievements as team efforts. Cell and gene therapies offer the possibility of cures for childhood diseases where lifetime prospects have been very bleak. Ros and her team at University College London are at the forefront of these developments, of which Ros is immensely proud. She is a Fellow and former Council Member of the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK). Ros was a clinical medicine sub-panel Member of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise and the 2014 Research

Evaluation Framework and has been a Member of numerous scientific assessment panels for research funding bodies, including the Wellcome Trust. She was a Member of the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s Commission on Human Medicines from 2009-2013 and Chaired its Paediatric Medicines Expert Advisory Group from 2002-2013. She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in 2010. She has a strong commitment to Open Access publishing and was a Director of the Public Library of Science for ten years. Ros is a Governor and Trustee of the Health Foundation and will Chair the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Careers and Training Committee from April 2017. Ros is constantly inspired by the resilience and triumph of the human spirit when she encounters stories of children who have survived abduction, war, siege, orphanage, migration and are still able to rebuild their lives. Similarly, one of her favourite films is Lives of Others about a Stasi agent who is in charge of surveillance and becomes moved by his intimate acquaintance with his protagonists’ lives. In contrast to the shallowness of his own life, he ends up subverting his surveillance, which saves their lives and represents to Ros, a triumph of truth over adversity. In 2015, Ros was awarded a CBE for services to the regulation of drugs for children. Ros is married to a paediatric anaesthetist, and they have two grown-up children. * Favourite Music: Hallelujah, but anything by Leonard Cohen, whom I saw in Liverpool * Three objects Ros cannot live without: Macbook, Walking boots, Recipe book

Ros’ advice to junior doctors is “To encourage them to consider academic medicine. It is a stimulating and exciting career and offers huge opportunities to improve health and wellbeing.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown

Centenary Souvenir

BMBCh PhD FFPHM FRCP FRCPCH

Professor of Public Health, Warwick Professor Sarah Stewart-Brown is a leading Professor of Public Health at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, and is a committed academic. Sarah qualified in 1974 from the University of Oxford and Westminster Hospital in London, and worked in the NHS from 1974-1994 first as a paediatrician, and then as a public health doctor in London, Bristol and Worcester. She sees this as her best career decision.

During her training, she had periods of working in academia, and Sarah gained her PhD from the University of Bristol in 1989. She held academic appointments at the Departments of Child Health, Epidemiology and Community Health, and of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Bristol. During this time, her major contribution was to enable a reorganisation and reduction in screening for vision and hearing loss for children, which were over-provided and to encompass prevention of emotional and behavioural problems. Sarah was Reader at the Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford where she directed the Health Services Research Unit, before joining Warwick University in April 2003 as Professor of Public Health. Sarah has over 200 peer reviewed journal publications, books, book chapters and reports including the leading textbook on Child Public health. Her research excellence and international influence are reflected in her contributions to Warwick Medical School’s success in the last national Research Assessment Exercise in 2007 and the first National Research Evaluation in 2014. Her insights have had an important influence on national policy in public health, child health and mental health. Sarah has been part of multiple research advisory groups and grant-giving panels and is on the editorial board of three peer review journals. Her work has frequently been quoted and cited by both the professional and popular media including the BBC, WHO, Medical News Today and Science Daily. More recently Sarah developed the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS), a wellbeing tool recommended and used by the NHS. In fact, the WEMWBS website is the most accessed site at the University of Warwick. A keen and avid teacher and trainer, Sarah pioneered the first Masters level module on Public Mental Health in the world and has worked tirelessly to get representation for mental health in many other areas, including the Faculty of Public Health Curriculum Committee. Sarah has also developed the first mandated medical student course for mental wellbeing in the UK and offers resilience training courses to junior doctors, GP, and consultants at the University of Westminster. In 2015, she was elected Foundation Fellow of the Warwick International Higher Education Academy, in recognition of teaching excellence. Sarah is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, Royal College of Physicians of England and the Royal College of Paediatrics

and Child Health yet still finds time for third sector work. She was Vice-Chair of the Parenting UK Trustee Board from 200712, Founder Trustee of the National Academy for Parenting Practitioners from 2007-8, Trustee for Family Lives from 2012-14, and established and ran for five years, the first cot death support group in Bristol in the 1980s. Sarah was appointed Director of the Institute of Health Sciences but a change in leadership in the current decade brought the glass ceiling crashing down around her ears. She has learnt that “timing is very important, and that if things aren’t working out at such challenging times, then it may be a good idea to stop trying and start again from a different place at a different time.” Sarah did just that, recovered from her injuries and is now Vice-Chairman of the British Medical Association Medical Academic Staff Committee’s Women in Academic Medicine group. * Sarah is most inspired by: Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela * Three objects Sarah cannot live without: Mobile phone, Computer, Hot water bottle

Sarah’s advice to junior doctors is “Look after your own needs as much as you possibly can, do what you can and then stop. You cannot and will not meet everyone’s needs. Your state of mind affects everyone around you, so looking after yourself is important.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard

PhD FRCGP

Chair of Council for the Royal College of General Practitioners Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard is Chair of Council for the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the UK’s largest medical Royal College and represents over 52,000 doctors and is a practising General Practitioner (GP). Helen grew up in Swansea and was inspired by her father who was the first person in their family to go to university. He is also the inspiration behind Helen’s fascination with sci-fi films: he took Helen and her brother to the cinema when Star Wars was first released. He l e n q u a l i f i e d f r o m St. George’s Hospital Medical School in London in 1996. After completing her house jobs, she initially embarked on obstetrics and gynaecology training; an experience that has shaped her subsequent clinical and academic aspirations. Helen then contacted the West Midlands Deanery looking for a six-month placement in general practice, hoping to get a training number in public health. She spoke with Professor Steve Field, CBE, and now the Chief Inspector of General Practice, who persuaded Helen to try academic general practice. In what has been her best career move, Helen began working at the University of Birmingham’s Department of Primary Care as a GP registrar in 2000. Since that time, she has combined primary care with research and teaching and later gained a PhD in 2010. She is currently supervising both MSc and PhD students in the subjects of Women’s health issues in the primary care setting, cancer screening in primary care and contraception and STD screening in primary care. Helen has progressed through the ranks at the University of Birmingham where she holds multiple roles. She is the Interim Head of Department of Primary Care; the Head of Academic Community Based Medicine Teaching across the whole of the MBChB programme; and Head of the dynamic Academic GP Trainee programme. The latter is the largest in the UK with fifteen trainees currently in the programme. Until 2012 she was

also Clinical Director of the accredited Primary Care Trials Unit at Birmingham. In 2002, Helen joined the Cloisters Medical Practice in Lichfield, Staffordshire as GP Principal, where she continues her clinical duties one day a week. Between 2005-2012, she was Honorary Treasurer of the Midland Faculty of the RCGP and became the first female Honorary Treasurer of the RCGP in 2012, one of her proudest professional achievements. She holds numerous diverse roles outside the University including being a Mentor for ‘doctors in difficulty’ in the Midlands. Helen states that she has certainly learnt more from some of her ‘failures’ than from her overt successes. “When you are really being grounded down by something, put it in a metaphorical box, close the lid and push it to the back of your mind,” she says. Helen is Governor at the Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust and succeeded Maureen Baker as the Chair of the RCGP Council in November 2016. She was named at the top of a list of powerful GPs compiled by Pulse magazine in 2016 and strives to make a positive difference in general practice. * Favourite Music: Anything by Kathryn Jenkins * Three objects Helen cannot live without: Garden, Outdoor space, Time to get fresh air

Helen’s advice to junior doctors is “The best is yet to be: try and relax and enjoy the moment more and worry less about meticulous planning for the future as serendipity will play a larger part than you would like!”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Nicola Strickland

Centenary Souvenir

MA Hons (Oxon) BM BCh FRCP FRCR

President of the Royal College of Radiologists Dr Nicola Strickland is President of the Royal College of Radiologists and Consultant Radiologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. Nicola initially trained in natural sciences and toyed with becoming a wildlife conservation worker. Her fascination was such that she had a brush with nature when on holiday with a friend in 1999.

or ‘poison guava’ by the locals was from the manchineel tree, regarded by many as the most dangerous tree in the world. Both lived to tell the tale, and in fact, Nicola published her experience in a letter in The British Medical Journal in 2000. Nicola later qualified in medicine from the University of Oxford and chose a career in radiology, which she describes as a wide-ranging, fast-moving high-tech discipline. She trained at the Hammersmith Hospital in London and was appointed Consultant Clinical Radiologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust with radiological interests in imaging informatics, respiratory and oncological cross-sectional imaging. With extensive board level experience, Nicola has held many national and international leadership roles: she was President of the European Imaging Informatics Society EuroPACS; the panEuropean Society of Radiology; and the Radiological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. Being a fluent French speaker, she was also President of the Anglo-French Medical Society for six years. Nicola was Registrar of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) and established and Chaired the UK Imaging Informatics Special Interest Group of the RCR. Nicola has organised numerous national, and international radiological academic meetings, and courses. Her top management tip is to limit unnecessary bureaucracy, management speak and pointless administration. “Always advocate what is best ultimately for the healthcare of the patient,” she says. She has learnt that ‘having a go at something’, which is totally beyond one’s capabilities is not just fun and bravado, but can have very serious and lasting adverse consequences for oneself and others. She recounts the time she was going down a black ski run, as a novice skier, and without the faintest idea of how to ski moguls, when the green run she intended to take from the summit was closed. Nicola sustained serious back and knee injuries as a result of a high-speed fall, ruined her holiday and caused herself significant pain and disability for a long time. She eventually had a discectomy and now advocates that “there is no shame in admitting that one has not acquired the skills to do something.” Along the idyllic tropical beaches of the Caribbean, Nicola and her friend found a sweet-smelling green fruit that looked like small crab-apples. Nicola had a bite and encouraged her friend to do the same. Within moments, both experienced a peppery, burning feeling associated with tightness in the throat and eventually, they could barely swallow. The fruit commonly called ‘beach apple’

* Favourite Film: Ratatouille for being superbly animated and has a happy ending * Three objects Nicola cannot live without: My daily disposable contact lenses (& varifocal glasses), Phone, My light, all terrain, cross-country trainers

Nicola’s advice to junior doctors is “Whatever the political environment, or the difficulties in your professional job, doing your daily work to the best of your ability under the circumstances, will help patients and make a positive difference to their lives. This is why you went into medicine in the first place. It means you can respect yourself.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Philippa Whitford

MD FRCS

Consultant Surgeon, Scotland, and MP for Central Ayrshire Dr Philippa Whitford is a Scottish surgeon and Scottish National Party politician (SNP). She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Ayrshire since 2015 and is the SNP Health spokesperson in the House of Commons. During her training, many advised Philippa against pursuing a surgical career. There were no other female surgeons in Scotland at this time. She did not listen. Philippa was born in Belfast but has lived in Scotland since the age of ten. After studying medicine at Glasgow University and carrying out her residencies in the city, Philippa went back to Belfast for a year to start her surgical training in 1983, despite being repeatedly told that women could not do surgery. She then moved back to Scotland and continued her surgical training, despite the advice given, around the West of Scotland from Lanarkshire to Inverclyde. Philippa then undertook two years of breast cancer research at Glasgow University before spending eighteen months serving as a medical volunteer in a UN hospital in Gaza, Palestine from 1991. This was just after the first Gulf war and during the first Palestinian Intifada. She also spent a short time in Southern Lebanon doing project planning for her charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians, after the war. Once again, many advised Philippa against this decision, warning her that it would end her already slender chance of her succeeding in a surgical career in Scotland. However, Philippa went to Gaza - her best career decision. The huge challenges in both the medical work out there and the daily struggles put aspects of her own life into perspective. It taught Philippa to become resilient. She also learnt that nothing can be achieved alone and, of all professions, medicine is based on teamwork. Upon return to the UK, Philippa started working as a Consultant Breast Surgeon in Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, where she spent the next nineteen years. During this time, she redesigned the service and established reconstructive breast surgery, and designed the Quality Improvement Scotland accreditation standards for the audit of breast cancer services, nationally. Philippa also helped to develop the regional cancer networks to establish peer-review and encourage the sharing of good practice. In 2012, Philippa joined the Scottish National Party and became involved with the campaigning that occurred during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. She actively campaigned for a YES vote in the referendum through ‘Women for Independence’ and, after a videoed speech that went viral on YouTube, Philippa ended up speaking all over Scotland. She raised the issue of NHS privatisation in England and how this would lead to the fragmentation and destruction of services. Philippa was one of the founders of ‘NHS for YES’, and in 2015, she stood as an SNP candidate in the General Election. She won!

Philippa turned her constituency of Central Ayrshire from a Labour majority of 12,500 into an SNP majority of 13,500 for herself. She is now the Shadow Health Spokesperson for the SNP at Westminster and sits on the Health Select Committee, where she regularly hears evidence supporting her earlier warnings about what the Coalition, and now the Conservative Government is doing to the NHS in England. Philippa promotes a more integrated and patient-centred service, which is the main aim in NHS Scotland. She was also vociferous on the subject of the Junior Doctors strike in 2016 and on the removal of training bursaries from nurses and other health professionals. In 2016, Philippa was honoured and inducted into the esteemed Saltire Society ‘Outstanding Women of Scotland’ community, on their 80th anniversary. Philippa is married, and they have one son. * Favourite Music: St. Matthew’s Passion by Bach * Three objects Philippa cannot live without: Books (I read every night), Music, Smartphone

Philippa’s advice to junior doctors is “Ensure you work with colleagues around you to help and support each other when the going gets tough. Never lose sight of why you came into the profession in the first place. There are few professions that can bring so much job satisfaction. So, when someone says ‘thank you’ savour that wee moment.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Olwen Williams

Centenary Souvenir

OBE

Vice-President, Medical Women’s Federation, and Consultant, Sexual Health/ HIV, North Wales Dr Olwen William is a Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in North Wales, and until recently she was Chief of Staff managing a budget of £180 million. She is also the incumbent Vice-President of the Medical Women’s Federation (MWF). Olwen was born in Manchester but has spent so much time in Wales that she considers herself ‘made in Wales’. Olwen initially wanted to be a vet but was put off by the male members of her family who told her that women could not do the job. At the age of only eight years, this was her first exposure to sexism. Soon after she decided to become a doctor. After retaking A ‘levels, Olwen secured a place at Liverpool Medical School and qualified in 1984. Recognising that the potential HIV epidemic that was predicted in the 1980s would require individuals with robust training in general medicine, Olwen switched her career path to train in genitourinary medicine and has never looked back. She does, however, regret not becoming dually accredited in general medicine. Olwen settled into her Consultant career in North Wales and has worked as a Consultant there for twenty-five years, holding many roles along the way. Between 2004-2007, she was BBC Audience Council Member for Wales and Chair of the Adolescent Special Interest Group for the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), leading the development of the National Clinical Effectiveness Guidelines on the Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) in Children and Young People. Olwen has worked closely with the Welsh Government and advised on the development of the Welsh Sexual Health Strategy, HIV service delivery, and issues regarding Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. She has championed Equality and Diversity in Wales and developed services for individuals affected by HIV, survivors of sexual assault and improved access to sexual health services through the implementation of sexual health services

at Her Majesty’s Prison Berwyn, a new super-prison. In 2006 Olwen reviewed the Joint Royal Colleges of Paediatrics and Child Health, Physicians and the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine guidance, The Physical Signs of Child Sexual Abuse. A year later she was a stakeholder in the Clinical Standards for the Management of STIs for BASHH. From 20072010, Olwen was the Welsh Representative for the MWF Standing Committee and was elected Vice-President of the organisation in 2016. Olwen spent five years as a Member of the Welsh Commission for Equality and Human Rights and is a Trustee of the National AIDS Trust. She is also a Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Wales Strategy Group Member. In 2009, Olwen was appointed Chief of Staff, leading the delivery of services in primary, community and specialist medicine. Olwen led a pioneering programme using video technology to help frail and older adults in rural communities access appointments with consultants. The CARTREF project was shortlisted at the 2016 Health Service Journal Value in Healthcare Awards and was highly commended at the award ceremony. She also obtained the RCP Future Hospital Development Site Status for her Trust with his project. Olwen was awarded Welsh Woman of the Year in 2000 and received an OBE for services to medicine in Wales in 2005. * Favourite Film: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy for escapism * Three objects Olwen cannot live without: iPad (I love to tweet), Toothbrush, Glasses

Olwen’s advice to junior doctors is “Explore every opportunity. It’s a tough world, and nothing comes easy but if your passion is medicine, then you will overcome obstacles, and find your niche. Seek a mentor and coach. We are here to help, support and guide.”

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk

Dr Ingrid Wolfe

OBE

Consultant in Paediatric Public Health, London Dr Ingrid Wolfe is a Consultant in Paediatric Public Health at Evelina London Children’s Healthcare, Guy’s and St. Thomas’, and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Child Public Health at King’s College London. Ingrid has Swedish and American ancestry but has lived most of her life in England.

Ingrid qualified from University College London in 1997 and obtained her MRCPCH three years later. She became a Member of the Faculty of Public Health in 2006 and later a Fellow in 2012. Ingrid is Director of the Evelina London Child Health Partnership and Co-Chair of the British Association for Child and Adolescent Public Health. Being qualified in both paediatrics and public health enables her to be a paediatrician in a very broad sense and lead the development and evaluation of a new model of children’s everyday healthcare in South London. Her academic work focuses on children’s health services, systems and policy in the UK and other European countries. One of her key research articles published in the Lancet showed that the UK has the highest number of excess child deaths among fifteen European countries. In what Ingrid describes as a “national scandal”, she regularly seeks opportunities to make both the public and the government aware of this. An avid social media user, she uses this medium to share examples of practice that could drive down this high death rate. She has learnt that in any challenge, personal or professional, to keep a clear sense of what you are doing and why. “Never waver,” she says. Ingrid’s best career decision was to follow her heart and pursue things that she found stimulating, often disregarding career guidance. She is most inspired by her husband, professionally, who works tirelessly to make the world a better place, and personally by her daughter who embodies hope for the future. Her personal and professional goal is to improve child health through strengthening and applying science in children’s health services, systems, and policy. It is this passion that led to her being named as one of the Health Service Journal’s top 50 Outstanding Leaders and role models who are driving change in the NHS in 2014. Two years later Ingrid was awarded an OBE for services to children’s healthcare. Ingrid is married, with one daughter, two dogs, a cat and several fish, all of whom live in London. * Favourite Film: Cinema Paradiso * Three objects Ingrid cannot live without: Book, Coffee, Lipstick

Ingrid’s advice to junior doctors is “Do what you find interesting, and your career will sort itself out.”

Medical Woman | Spring 2017

Dr Sarah Wollaston

Centenary Souvenir

Conservative Member of Parliament, Totnes Dr Sarah Wollaston, the GP who became an MP, spent twenty-four years as an NHS clinician and teacher, before joining Parliament. The biggest change she noticed was that as a GP she was automatically trusted and liked unless proven otherwise. Whereas as an MP, it is the other way around where people are inclined to mistrust you as a default unless you prove them otherwise.

Sarah was born in Wok i ng i nto a n armed forces family and moved around frequently when her father, who worked for the Air Force, was posted to different bases around the world. She attended a mixture of civilian and service primary schools and then went to Watford Gra m ma r School. At secondary school, like many teenagers, Sarah had part-time jobs until she moved to study medicine at Guy’s Hospital. At medical school, Sarah took an intercalated BSc in Pathology, met her future husband, and worked part-time as a healthcare assistant to supplement her grant. She qualified in 1986. With an initial career interest in paediatrics, Sarah spent five years training for this, but then switched to general practice and moved to Bristol, when the one-hundred-hour weeks became unsustainable. Changing career directions was one of her best career moves. She continued her GP training in and around Bristol and moved to Devon to take up a part-time general practitioner post. She further worked as a police forensic examiner for Devon and Cornwall Police from 1996-2001, seeing victims of sexual or domestic violence and advising police on the state of suspects and whether they were fit to be interviewed. Sarah then took up a fulltime GP post in 1999. She also taught junior doctors and medical students and was an Examiner for the Royal College of General Practitioners. Becoming a doctor with an interest in teaching was her other best career decision.

Sarah joined the Conservative Party in 2006 spurred on by her opposition to the proposed closure of one of her local community hospitals. In 2009, after hearing David Cameron’s invitation to those with non-political backgrounds to bring their practical experience to Westminster, she stood in the first openprimary, highlighting her lack of professional political background but her real-world experiences. Proving that she was not there to climb the political ladder, she warned the then Health Minister, Andrew Lansley that his reforms could destroy the NHS. She succeeded in becoming an MP for Totnes in Devon, in 2010. She spent two years campaigning on alcohol-related harm which was one of her pledges for her election campaign. In 2014, she was elected by MPs from across the House of Commons to Chair the Health Select Committee and was re-elected in 2015 to continue doing this for Parliament. Sarah misses being a doctor and a teacher but does not regret following her political path. She lives in South Devon with her psychiatrist husband, and they have three children. Ironically, having spoken about the ‘brain drain in the UK,’ her own junior doctor daughter has left to work in Australia. * Favourite Music: The Marriage of Figaro * Three objects Sarah cannot live without: A mug of tea, Muddy trainers, Very hot bath

Sarah’s advice to junior doctors is “Medicine is an amazing career and people really appreciate what you do. Stay positive and never stop learning and teaching.”