Don’t settle for second best, says surgeon.
An increasing number of women are choosing to enter the traditionally male dominated world of surgery.
“I’m a task-orientated person so it was a good fit for me,’ says cancer surgeon Zi Wei Liu who works at Northwick Park Hospital.
“My parents wanted me to follow them into general medicine but I found it a bit slow compared to how quickly you can see results following a successful procedure.”
Zi Wei says the real challenges of the profession lie outside the operating theatre.
Cancer survival rates have increased dramatically in recent decades but so has the disease’s prevalence and Liu has to break the bad news when a condition is inoperable or nothing more can be done.
“There is a stereotype of surgeons being aloof but you have to be a people person. There is a lot more to the job than practical skills and I really enjoy working as part of a bigger team.”
Surgery is traditionally a male dominated profession but things have moved on since the days of Louisa Aldrich-Blake, the country’s first female surgeon, who cut a path for others to follow in the early 1900s.
Zi Wei added: “There are more women surgeons nowadays and that can only be a good thing. I’ve never regretted my decision.”
So, what’s her advice for any female medical students considering a career in surgery?
“Never settle for second best and don’t be afraid of a challenge.”