Raising funds to improve breast radiation protection in female orthopaedic surgery registrars

In the West of Scotland Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery rotation, almost 1/3rd of our 68 trainees are now female. It is heartening to see such progress with improving the diversity of our specialty. A recent article in the Journal of Trauma & Orthopaedics (1) was discussed at our training committee meeting and this highlighted that female orthopaedic surgeons have a 3 - 4x higher risk of developing breast cancer. It has become clear that much of the standard provided radiation PPE available in hospitals fails to protect the upper outer quadrant and axilla adequately.

There are several issues relating to the provision of adequate axillary cover radiation PPE, ranging from cost, which stakeholder would be responsible for funding and the logistics of storing and transportation.

Therefore I wanted to do something practical, rather than get bogged down in red tape. I want to raise money to fund provision of a Mammo-shield for every female orthopaedic trainee on the West of Scotland training programme https://rothband.com/mammo-shield

This PPE integrates with existing lead aprons to provide enhanced protection of the vulnerable areas. It will also be able to move with the trainees across their different hospital placements and can be much more easily stored.

I will be running the Highland Fling 53 mile Ultramarathon through Loch Lomond and the Trossachs to raise money towards this cause. Details here https://highlandflingrace.org

I’d be very grateful if you would consider donating to this fundraiser to help us protect the future health of our colleagues.

(1) Sevenoaks H, Pilkington I, Hutchings L, Lewis, C. Improving breast radiation protection for female orthopaedic surgeons. Journal of Trauma & Orthopaedics. 2023; Vol 11, Issue 2: 30 - 31