Medics inspire teenage girls to become surgeons

Teenage girls have taken their first steps to becoming surgeons in a UK employment sector where women are still under-represented by a ratio of eight-to-one.

Gursharan, Nimra and Simran attended a mentoring event at Birmingham Children's Hospital to encourage girls from minority backgrounds to explore surgical careers.

They told how they wanted to help people and how role models are key.

More than 60 women and girls from Birmingham schools and colleges attended the event, run by Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust and Women in Surgery, which supports women in the profession.

The three girls met plastic surgeon Christina Lipede and her colleague Andrea Jester - both advocates for the next generation of female surgeons.

Women in Surgery, part of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, has said the ratio of male to female consultant surgeons in the UK is approximately eight-to-one and its members are "on a mission to change that".

The event was part of a scheme to encourage, enable and inspire women to fulfil their surgical career ambitions.

Gursharan, 17, who moved from Italy to Birmingham eight years ago, said she would be the first in her family to become a surgeon.

Describing her initial steps as "very new", she said she didn't have people around her who worked in healthcare that she could ask about opportunities.

"Getting advice from professionals in this hospital is very broadening," she said.

Nimra, 17, said input from the medics was incredibly helpful.

She said she had received support in the community and times were changing, but added: "It's due to women like Andrea and Christina who are paving that path and showing that it is possible, and it is something that you can do."

Meanwhile Simran, 16, focused on the potential sacrifices involved, adding: "I would be OK making the sacrifices knowing that in the end it would contribute to me being a surgeon."

She said choosing a surgical career would allow her to "contribute more to people, to the community, to people who need my help".

Ms Lipede said reaching out to girls who are under-represented was vital.

She described the mentoring event as an opportunity to talk to girls who may have questions about getting into medicine, juggling families and careers, and balancing training and studying.

Participants could see people at different career stages, including medical students, juniors and consultants, and ask them what their life was really like, she said.

"They can see maybe someone that looks like them, maybe someone that has a life similar to them, maybe someone that they can relate to."

She described how she had her son during training and went part-time, working four days a week, after maternity leave.

Ms Lipede said it extended her training but added: "I think it's important to enjoy the journey, enjoy your life alongside surgery. There are sacrifices to make, but each sacrifice is worthwhile."

King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls, a state-funded grammar where the majority of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, signed up for the event.

The three girls, all pupils there, are now embarking on work experience at the children's hospital.

Head teacher David Goodwin said the school had joined a range of schemes as part of a drive to promote opportunities for girls entering fields where women are under-represented.

He said it was an area in which the school invested a lot of time and thought.

"We are constantly going on visits that inspire young female students… so yes, this doesn't happen by accident," he said.

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