And now she has retired. Will she miss it all dreadfully? Guess the answer. "No." But I suspect she will be missed.

Averil Mansfield: Britain’s trailblazing female surgeon Averil Mansfield: Britain’s trailblazing female surgeon

a b "The NHS Heroes Awards". 21 May 2018. ITV. {{ cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= ( help) Writing my book has been a novel and enjoyable experience. It has been wonderful to relive old memories and to recall the amazing patients, colleagues, friends and family who have been so influential and supportive throughout my life. When I was young the idea of a female surgeon was quite an unusual one, and I am delighted that so much has changed in that respect since the early days of my career. I hope that those who read my book will discover what it takes to become a surgeon, and that they will see that, along with the hard work and long hours, yes, there is also a sense of achievement and quite a lot of fun to be had too.” After qualifying as a doctor in 1960, Averil trained as a general surgeon, and became a consultant in Liverpool in 1972, at a time when just 2% of surgeons were women. After retiring in 2002, she became chair of the Stroke Association, helping to improve the quality of stroke services throughout the country, and was elected President of the BMA in 2009. Perhaps most exciting of all: I learned to play the cello! I’m a good pianist and have been for quite a part of my life but I’d always wanted to play in an orchestra, so I thought I’d take up the cello. I wouldn’t say I’m a cellist at all but I play it sufficiently well to enjoy it, to play with other people, and to play in an orchestra. I play with two amateur orchestras and they give me a great deal of pleasure. It’s a lovely thing to do at the age of 80! Advice for young surgeons

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A great read. I am honoured to have worked with such a legend' David Nott'A role model for women' Independent'A wonderful read' Julian Fellowes'Remarkable' Lauren Laverne'Charming' GuardianWe were occasionally expected to travel by ambulance to a serious case and would always have a kit of tools and drugs ready for emergency calls. If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us The second thing is to remain focused on that which is most important to you at every stage in your career, particularly if you take on something academic. There will be many demands on your time and it’s very easy to become distracted from what you’re supposed to be doing. But if you really want to do it, go for it. You can do it! Of course, women have struggled in the past, but Mansfield, who is 65, insists that surgery can be plain sailing, the perfect career for a woman and.... I believe her. She exudes trust. She is tall, calm, imposing, charming and if I had to have an enormous five-hour, life-threatening operation, I would want her to do it. Averil’s compelling account shines light on a medical and societal world that has changed beyond measure, but which – as she shows through her experiences – still has a long way to go for the women finding their place within it.

Some thoughts on a career in surgery | The Bulletin of the Some thoughts on a career in surgery | The Bulletin of the

Today, 17% of surgeons are women, although male consultant surgeons still outnumber females by a ratio of 8:1. Membership of Women in Surgery, which also welcomes medical students, has grown to 6,000. Just 2% of surgeons in the UK were women when Mansfield qualified in the early Seventies. By the Nineties, when 97% of surgeons were male, not much had changed. Money Matters Neurodiversity Preparing for University - Subject Reading Lists Reading For Pleasure StationeryMy mother thought I was being ridiculous, that the daughter of a housewife and a welder living in social housing could not enter the medical profession, but finally came round to the idea when she saw I wasn’t giving up.”

Averil Mansfield - Wikipedia Averil Mansfield - Wikipedia

Her parents spent years trying to deter their headstrong daughter from pursuing an ambition sparked at the age of eight as she thumbed through medical books in her local library.One outcome is the setting up of a working group, Parents in Surgery, to come up with ways to support surgeons with children, given the anti-social hours many are expected to work, as well as frequently being on call. The book, Life in Her Hands, details Averil’s trailblazing career, qualifying as a surgeon in 1972, a time when just two per cent of her colleagues were female. Could women be more sensitive to certain procedures - gynaecological ones, perhaps? "Gynaecologists of both sexes understand the problems very well. I don't think there's any difference between the approach. It's what appeals to you as a patient. Some would definitely prefer to go to a man, some to a woman. The important thing is to let them have choice." Unfortunately, there’s still a feeling that it’s a boys’ game, which is a shame, because it isn’t.” Professor Averil Mansfield spent over 20 years as a vascular surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital. In 1993, she became the first female professor of surgery in the UK and used her profile to encourage more women to join the profession. She served on the council of the Royal College of Surgeons and later as its vice president. She also served as president of the Vascular Surgical Society and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland and, in 1999 was awarded a CBE for services to surgery and women in medicine. In May 2018, she was given an NHS Heroes Award. Professor Mansfield talks to us about her career highlights, being a role model and how her specialty has changed over the years.

Averil Mansfield books and biography | Waterstones

Born in 1937, Averil studied at Liverpool University’s School of Medicine and graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine in 1960. Averil began her career at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital before becoming a lecturer in surgery at the University. She later become consultant vascular surgeon at St Mary’s hospital in London. Over the past 30 years, Mansfield has somehow found time with her husband, also a surgeon, to restore a 300-year-old stone-built house in the Lake District, "very very gradually. It's been a lovely thing - just to turn away from complex medical problems to this. It's finished now." And she plays the piano and cello. To unwind? Another no. "I'm not a very stressed person. I don't have too much unwinding to do." Fortunately for the thousands of patients whose lives Mansfield went on to save with her pioneering vascular surgery, she was undeterred by his response. I started the Women in Surgical Training initiative at the Royal College of Surgeons to encourage and support more women who wished to pursue the specialty. I was astonished at how many women turned up for the first meeting. It became obvious that, even at that stage, lots of women were thinking about becoming surgeons but were put off from actually doing it because they thought it just wasn’t possible. I’m pleased to see how far we’ve come now – it’s no longer cause for comment if you’re a surgeon who is a woman. Progress in the specialty There was one man in my clinic at St Mary’s with an aortic aneurysm who stripped naked and laid on the couch for me to examine him,” recalls Mansfield. “Afterwards I said: ‘Put your clothes on and we’ll have a chat’ and he said: ‘When will I see Professor Mansfield?’I think the most important thing for young surgeons to establish is whether this is the career they really want. It’s not easy – students don’t always have enough time in each specialty that they are exposed to and once you commit to a specialty, you’re in that job for 40 years plus. No matter how much we talk about hours of work and managing training, surgery is a very demanding branch of the profession – you cannot walk away in the middle of something, you have to see it through. It’s important to make sure this is what you really want for your life. The other problem was that this was the era of the mini skirt, and you can imagine what that meant. John William Paulton Bradley (husband), Russell Bradley (step son), Jason Bradley (step son), Lesley Forbes (step daughter) I’ve lived through the advent of ultrasound, CT and MRI scanning, and all have made diagnosis more reliable and help plan for surgery,” she says.