All-Female Surgeon Wing Launched in Maharashtra

The new Women Surgeon Wing aims to help and encourage women in pursuing surgery as their profession.

Representational picture. (Photo: Reuters)

The Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) has launched the first-of-its-kind ‘Women Surgeons Wing’ to encourage women to pursue a career in surgery – according to Jayashree Todkar, who is the convener of the new group.

Pankaja Munde, Rural Development Minister of Maharashtra and daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, officially inaugurated the new wing of women surgeons on May 31. The date happily coincided with International Women’s Health Day.

“Figures show that amongst the total of about 25,000 surgeons in India, only 700 are women,” said Todkar, who is convener of the Women Surgeons Wing.

Women in particular show reluctance to pursue a surgical career due to lifestyle implications and societal pressures. The reasons for this are multi-factorial and has been attributed to the unconscious bias, lack of female role models and perceptions regarding work-life balance.
– Jayashree Todkar, first female bariatric surgeon in Asia

The women’s wing would initiate programmes to create enthusiasm among female doctors to take up careers in surgery. It aims to increase the number of women in the field so that they may act as “mentors and role models” for female medical students.