Editorial
W
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
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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