International Women's Day 2020

To mark International Women's Day this Sunday, we are launching a number of initiatives to celebrate diversity in surgery and showcase how the profession can be a rewarding career for all. These are the exciting things we've been working on to support our members:

The Lady Estelle Wolfson Emerging Leaders Fellowship

We have opened applications for the fifth Lady Estelle Wolfson Emerging Leaders Fellowship.

The fellowship aims to encourage women to become familiar with, and subsequently to apply for, leadership roles within the RCS and the wider surgical profession. To that end, we will provide a group of eight-to-ten women with a unique ‘window’ into the RCS and with access to relevant opportunities over the course of one year.

To be eligible, you will need to be a female surgical or dental consultant, an SAS doctor or an exceptional trainee.

Applications close Sunday 19 April 2020.

Apply today for this unique leadership opportunity

Parenthood profiles

We believe in supporting you during pregnancy and throughout parenthood. We have produced new information for parents and collated profiles of both men and women in surgery to show that you can pursue a successful career and have a family at the same time.

Read our new parenthood profiles

Social media

With our strong network growing each day, follow us on Twitter @WomenSurgeonsUK to hear about upcoming opportunities, gain more information and news, and connect with thousands of other female surgeons. We welcome everyone to join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #eachforequal.

As part of National Careers Week, we also asked a number of our Women in Surgery forum members to debunk common myths related to being a parent or working less than full time in surgery. Head over to our Instagram to watch their videos in our highlight story.

Inspiring reads for International Women’s Day

• Discover the amazing life and career of Phyllis Knocker, the first female president of the College of Medicine of South Africa, in our new blog. She faced strong competition in a male-dominated profession and is described as having ‘the kind of career that would make the recording angel take up shorthand’.

• During the past 30 years, female representation in surgery has increased from 3% of consultant surgeons to 12.9%. However, despite attracting a greater number of women, surgery remains the training pathway with the largest gender imbalance. H Skinner and Farah Bhatti explore the state of women in surgery today.

• Negotiating maternity leave and subsequent return to work is complicated and can result in undue stress. This handy guide helps you understand the current landscape.