Professor Averil Mansfield
From an early age, Professor Mansfield knew she wanted to do surgery. Often she was found in her kitchen carrying out science experiments and at the age of eight, she told her parents that she wanted to be a surgeon.
“I was captivated by the stories of people opening the chest for the first time and I wanted to be part of future developments. But my background was very working class. My family had nothing to do with any of the professions, and felt that this was not something I should be declaring to the outside world.” Professor Mansfield went on to study medicine at the University of Liverpool and went on to train as a vascular surgeon, at a time when female surgeons were almost non-existent. She became a consultant vascular surgeon aged only 35. In 1993, Prof. Mansfield became the first female to be appointed Professor of Surgery at St. Mary's Hospital London. And was the founding Chairwoman of "Women in Surgical Training". “My only real concern, was to inspire women to believe in themselves, and if their desire was to be a surgeon, then to believe that is perfectly possible.” And in 1999, she received a CBE for her contributions to surgery and women. In 2018, Prof. Mansfield was awarded the NHS Heroes "Lifetime Achievement Award" and even now at the age of 80 and retired, she still dedicates time and energy to visiting us in the University of Liverpool to inspire the next generation of female surgeons. |
Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891)
Trained in North Wales for four years, then studied medicine at Edinburgh and University College, London to finally set up his own practice in Liverpool. His contribution to British orthopaedics was manifold. Thomas is responsible for numerous medical innovations that all carry his name:
- 'Thomas Splint' to stabilise a fractured femur and prevent infection,
- 'Thomas's collar' to treat tuberculosis of the cervical spine,
- 'Thomas's manoeuvre' an orthopaedic investigation for fracture of the hip joint,
- 'Thomas test' a method of detecting hip deformity by having the patient lying flat in bed,
- 'Thomas's wrench' for reducing fractures,
- 'Thomas heel' is part of a shoe for children consisting of a higher on the inside and longer heel. This is used to bring the heel of the foot into varus deformity, and to prevent depression in the region of the head of the ankle bone.
Sir Robert Jones, 1st Baronet (1857-1933)
Being brought up in London he left to live with his uncle, Hugh Owen Thomas, in Liverpool. He learned about fracture care and the manufacture of braces from his uncle, and attended the Liverpool School of Medicine from 1873 to 1878. He continued to work with his uncle, and was subsequently appointed Honorary Assistant Surgeon to the Stanley Hospital in Liverpool in 1887. At this time, Jones and his uncle were among the few surgeons interested in the treatment of fractures, while the majority of orthopaedic surgery was aimed at correcting deformity in children and was carried out by general surgeons.
His marathon 30 patient operating lists would become the stuff of legend. He helped create the BOA and the ISOS, and his use of the Thomas splints in the treatment of femoral fractures in the First World War saved numerous lives. The eponymous Jones fracture bears his name.
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Thomas McMurray (1887-1949)
Graduated from Queen's University, Belfast and took up a house job in Liverpool under Sir Robert Jones. McMurray was a lecturer at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Liverpool from 1924 to 1938, and succeeded Robert Jones as director of orthopaedics. He became the first professor of orthopaedic surgery in Liverpool in 1938. He was president of the British Orthopaedic Society and the Liverpool Medical Institution, and president-elect of the British Medical Association.
His dexterity as a surgeon was noted; he was able to remove a meniscus in five minutes, and disarticulate a hip in little over ten. As a teacher, he upheld the principles of Hugh Owen Thomas, and built up a postgraduate school of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Liverpool.
Sir Reginald Watson Watson-Jones (1902-1972)
After contracting typhoid in his youth, the younger Jones decided on a career in medicine and set his heart on orthopaedic surgery after he underwent an operation to remove a haemangioma. He joined the Medical School of Liverpool University, graduating with a first-class Bachelor of Science degree in 1922, his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degrees two years later, and a Masters of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1926. He would be remembered as one of the school's "most brilliant students then and since", winning numerous prizes. He was named Mitchell Banks Medallist (1920), George Holt Medallist (1921) and Robert Gee Prizeman (1923). In 1923, he became a demonstrator in Anatomy and Physiology, and received the Conjoint Diploma at Liverpool in 1924. Watson-Jones established instructional courses on fractures at Liverpool Royal Infirmary. He was instrumental in founding the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in 1948, serving as editor from its first edition until his death in 1972. He was president of the BOA and Orthopaedic surgeon to King George VI.
Robert Roaf (1913-2007)
Appointed professor of Orthopaedics in Liverpool in 1963. He was one of the world’s leading spinal surgeons. He also travelled extensively and was one of the last two known British pre-war Himalayan climbers. He was a great thinker and philosopher and held in the greatest of respect by much of the medical world. His teaching was often complex and his insights were sometimes too deep for some to follow. When asked about his new method of operating through the chest to correct spinal deformities (a technique that took years to be accepted, but is now recognised as a standard procedure worldwide), Roaf commented, “Heretical views, especially in medicine, are never welcome.”
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Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse (1884-1917)
Trained in Orthopaedic Surgery at Liverpool Southern under Sir Robert Jones and is one of only three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice. He also represented Great Britain at the 1908 Olympic Games. He died in 1917 of wounds resulting from an act of heroism at Passchendaele, an act for which he was awarded a second Victoria Cross. A hospital ward is named after him at the Walton Centre in Liverpool.
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