Bradford Teaching Hospitals is very proud to welcome its first female consultant plastic surgeon to its surgical team.
Stephanie Young, who specialises in breast reconstruction for women who have had a mastectomy, is not only the first woman to join the team but one of only 16% of female surgeons nationally, and one of only 20% in plastic surgery.
As well as 18 years of intensive training, which started at medical school in Dundee, to achieve her dream of being a consultant surgeon, Stephanie has forged a lifestyle which shows that having a rewarding surgical career, being a mother and having a life outside of work is possible for the female surgeons of the future.
“Young female medical trainees need role models as it’s a tough business to become a surgeon, I certainly know that, but I also know that it’s worth it and you can have a good work-life balance – that is absolutely possible,” said Stephanie.
“I’m passionate about my job, about how I make a difference to how women feel after a mastectomy. It’s super-rewarding when I see the impact my work has on women whose whole sense of self has been changed by cancer, it’s so lovely when they look at a reconstruction and go “wow!”
Stephanie always wanted to be a surgeon, in her words, doing big open surgery, and this means she is often in theatre for 10 or 12 hours straight, working with a colleague. As a plastic surgeon, she also operates on trauma patients, people with skin cancer and children.
But her particular skill is in microsurgically sculpting a new breast from skin and fat taken from a patient’s abdomen, a procedure known as the DIEP flap. Breast reconstructions using the DIEP flap are increasingly common because it can produce a soft, natural-looking breast.
Many women who undergo a mastectomy or lumpectomy can have a reconstruction at the same time.
But for various reasons some women have to wait for a period of time before they can have a new breast made from their own tissue – and Stephanie says for those women a plastic surgeon’s work is transformative.
“As a woman I know how a mastectomy can affect a woman’s confidence, how she relates to the world, so being able to help give that person part of them back is amazing.”
Bradford had to stop its breast reconstruction service a few years ago due to staff shortages and then COVID, with patients having to go to Leeds, but the service is now up and running again, offering patients this specialist service at St Luke’s Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary, where the surgery takes place.
Recently, Stephanie performed reconstructions following a double mastectomy – the first operation of its kind in well over five years at Bradford Teaching Hospitals.
Stephanie, who is mum to a five-year-old, loves working in Bradford. She was a registrar at the Trust in 2016 before moving on to complete her consultant training, which involved placements around the country and a fellowship in Bristol, but she came back to Bradford.
“I feel very supported here; it’s a great team and I really enjoy working with such a diverse patient population. I had a few job options for my first consultant role, but I decided on Bradford because it felt the right place to be.”
Going forward, Stephanie is keen to continue to develop the service and the patient experience, introduce a microsurgical course and be a role model to female junior trainees.
“It’s nice to be back in Bradford and pay it forward, so to speak. I remember how supportive the breast team was when I was a registrar, so the impression you make on people means a lot.”