08 Mar On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the first surgery on board our newest Mercy Ship – and the female surgeon who performed it
Around 100 years ago, Rachel Buckingham’s grandmother became a doctor at a time when some universities in the UK still barred women from qualifying as physicians.
Little did Dr Muriel Griffiths from Cardiff, Wales, know that she would inspire her descendants as she headed off to India to treat patients with leprosy in the 1920s.
Dr Muriel Griffiths (whose married name was Fellows), grandmother of and inspiration to Dr Rachel Buckingham
Today, her granddaughter Rachel, is the lead orthopaedic surgeon volunteering onboard the world’s first purpose-built charity hospital ship – the Global Mercy.
On Monday (6th) she performed the first-ever surgery in one of the brand-new state-of-the-art operating theatres on the ship docked in Senegal, West Africa, for the next five months.
Rachel, who has been a Consultant Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Oxford University Trust since 2007, said:
“My grandmother was a doctor and a trailblazer. In the 1920s she went off as an unmarried woman to India as a medical missionary.
“It was she, who was my inspiration. My father, another inspiration, was also a surgeon. But hearing what she did, including her work with leprosy patients, made me decide, aged 10, that I wanted to study medicine. And I did not want to do anything else from then on!”
Sadly, Rachel’s grandmother died in 1977 when Rachel was still young, but her formidable spirit left a mark on her.
First surgery
Fast forward to 2023, and Rachel is part of an historic moment herself, as she performs the first surgery onboard a ship which is expected to transform more than 150,000 lives through surgery alone during its 50-year lifespan.
In addition, thousands of African medical professionals will receive training and mentoring with the goal of multiplying impact within their communities.
Dr Rachel Buckingham from when she volunteered for Mercy Ships previously
While mother-of-three Rachel performs her surgeries, she will be training an African orthopaedic surgeon alongside her, who (despite being from Morocco originally,) is committed to staying in Senegal to treat the Senegalese people.
Rachel, 55, said:
“Senegal has not got a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon. I am hopeful he will be their first.”
Her husband Rob, a professor and robotics engineer, volunteered with Rachel onboard hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, in 2019. Rob volunteered in the dining room while Rachel went into paediatric orthopaedic surgical care.
Stark differences
Rachel said:
“Coming out here you notice some stark differences. The lack of surgical care people have here. We treat children with such severe deformities because they would never get to that point at home, we would have treated them in early life. People are just so grateful for the chance to get surgery.
“We are incredibly lucky to have the NHS. Whatever problems our NHS has – it’s amazing. People can walk in and get free medical care and we should never take that for granted. And we have so many doctors.”
In sub-Saharan Africa, 9 out of 10 people have no access to safe surgery and Rachel said the need is critically obvious.
“What keeps me coming back is the need. It’s the ability to train local healthcare workers and make a difference.
Mercy Ships really wants to do itself out of a job. You go into medicine to have an impact, so here we have a massive impact.
“Mercy Ships is a breath of fresh air. It is so professional. People come from all over the world who are properly trained and vetted, and you see an incredible can-do attitude to work together to change lives.”
International Women’s Day
Reflecting on International Women’s Day, Rachel said the lack of females in senior positions during her medical training never held her back – if anything it made her more determined.
“As a junior doctor I never worked for a woman – so I never had a role model in surgery. Orthopaedics is very male- dominated, and I found that some men felt they had to be a very stereotypical surgeon. But for me it was liberating being a woman as I found my own way. I am me.”
Just as her grandmother did, Rachel’s determination and courage is seeing her change the lives of those in urgent need.
Dr Rachel Buckingham, Orthopedic Surgeon, the day of the first patient being admitted on the Global Mercy.
Could you transform lives like Rachel?