Consultant is urging women to pursue careers in surgery
Amy Gillis

Consultant is urging women to pursue careers in surgery

A CONSULTANT general surgeon in Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) is encouraging other women to pursue careers in surgery.

Amy Gillis emphasised how a career in surgery can also be balanced alongside family commitments, in a video recently released by the hospital to mark International Women’s Day 2022.

Ms Gillis said: “You become a surgeon because you like surgery, you love the academic aspect, the technical aspect. So as a surgeon it doesn’t matter if you’re female or male.

“I think a lot of women would shy away from surgery because of the difficulty with trying to have a home life in addition to a career.

“It is getting better. I am able to do it. The other women who are working in surgery in our department here, are able to do it.”

Ms Gillis believes that if a woman really wants a career in surgery, she can make it work alongside family commitments.

“Don’t ever let that turn you away from a job in surgery if it’s something that you really want,” she advised.

Sharon Larkin, HR director at TUH, also highlighted the impact having more women in the hospital workforce has had, particularly in regards to leadership roles.

Ms Larkin said: “Over the last couple of years in particular, looking at what we have gone through with Covid, the main focus needs to be on compassionate leadership, which is about attending to your staff, understanding your staff, empathising with them and helping them.

“And when I say helping them, it means actioning things that need to be done.”

She added that she believes that being a compassionate leader is a strength, and that leadership styles over the last thirty years have changed as more women have joined the workforce.

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