Exhibition shines spotlight on female surgeons

An exhibition shining a spotlight on women working in surgery includes two surgeons from the West Midlands.

Nicola Mackay has been based at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust since 2024 and her portrait has been included in the exhibition being hosted at The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

"It's an honour to be included along with some amazing surgeons from around the country," she said.

According to the General Medical Council, women now make up more than half of all doctors in the UK, but less than 20% of surgeons.

Mackay, who is from Bo'ness in Scotland, studied medicine at the University of Dundee, where she started concentrating on the precision required for orthopaedic surgery.

Mackay credits her mother with her drive to succeed in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

"My mum instilled in me an unwavering belief that I could achieve anything I set my mind to. She taught me never to let barriers define my limits."

Evelyn Ong from Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital is also featured in the exhibition.

She works as a consultant paediatric hepatobiliary and transplant surgeon.

She advised others to "find your passion and follow it to wherever it may take you, even to those unexpected places you never anticipated at the beginning of your medical training".

The exhibition highlights a national initiative aimed at helping and encouraging women to become surgeons.

Portraits of Women in Surgery is at The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London until 18 April.

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