Miss Samantha Tross has been a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Ealing Hospital since 2005. She was the first Black woman to become a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the UK and the first woman in Europe to perform hip surgery using Stryker’s Mako robotic system, and is the former lead of the orthopaedic department at Ealing Hospital.  

I was born in Guyana, South America, and moved to England aged 11 to continue my secondary education. At 7 years of age, I had made a declaration to my family that I was going to be a surgeon when I grew up. I was an avid reader so maybe I read about surgery and that influenced me. My mum was a nurse and I often visited her hospital. I was exposed to death at a young age, losing my maternal grandmother (who lived with us) when I was 3 years old and a close friend when I was 7 years old. I’m sure all these experiences contributed. Despite my initial wish to return to the Caribbean and attend the University of the West Indies, my parents encouraged me to stay in the British education system and I was fortunate to gain a place to study medicine at University College London.

During medical school, I excelled in anatomy, and disliked long medical rounds and the chronicity of medical conditions. This solidified my decision to pursue surgery. I rotated through various surgical specialties, including neurosurgery, general surgery, vascular, plastics and orthopaedics.

Despite enjoying all specialties and meeting Richard Earlam (a general surgeon at the Royal London Hospital early in my career who became my earliest mentor), my orthopaedic rotation stood out for many reasons. I was made to feel part of the team, and I also liked the fact that the patients were diverse – male and female, young and old – and that they were generally well but with an injured body part. Most surgery was carried out during normal working hours (unless working in a trauma centre) and I met the first female surgeon I ever saw, Ms Alison Hume, who was a registrar at the time at the Whittington Hospital, when I was a house officer. My mentors David Lightowler and Professor Fred Heatley, among many other orthopaedic surgeons, supported me in my career and enabled me to achieve my ambition. I have no regrets about my career choice; it’s a specialty I truly love.