Susie West: An
Outstanding doctor
Eduardo C. Gerding
Having those girls on board was the best
thing that could have happened.
Captain
Martin Reed, Chief Officer on SS Canberra in 1982 9
Foreword
Susie West was born
into an east London family in 1950. Her memoir starts with Susie’s life as a
twin in a family of four girls in east
London. Her twin then falls ill, giving Susie contact with the medical
profession.
Bedford College
Susie West studied
biology at Bedford College graduating in 1972. Bedford College is a university
of further education located in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. In this regard
Susie says: “My fondest memory of Bedford
is the wonderful setting. Deep in Regent’s Park was the best place to start my
Botany studies”
The Middlesex Hospital Medical School
Ever since she was a
child, Susie had wanted to be a nurse. The truth is that he never imagined that
one day he would become a doctor and never considered the possibility of
pursuing a military career. 9
She said: "I didn't know any proper doctors, so
I thought that was way too scary so, to start with, I thought nursing would be
fine”
In 1973 Susie entered
Middlesex Hospital Medical School which has a history dating back to 1746 and
in 1987 merged with University College London Medical School. 4
We also know that her
orientation in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Calcutta Medical Hospital had a
great influence on his life. 4
Entry to P&O
After completing her
training as a GP, she started working at P&O and, coincidentally, she was
in Canberra when the conflict in the South Atlantic broke out.
The nursing sisters
had worked on P&O ships since the 1930s, but it was not until the 1970s
that female surgeons were allowed to join shipping companies. 9
Had Susie been in the
Royal Navy at the time of the conflict, she would not have been able to serve
on the front lines as until 1990 women were not allowed on board in the Royal
Navy. 4 . However, these rules did
not apply to civilian women in a war zone. 9. Susie persuaded one of the
naval medical officers to take her aboard. 4
The swiming pool on the SS Canberra was converted into a
flight deck and the entertainment area was adapted to create a triage area, a resuscitation
area and a four-table operating room. The nightclub was transformed into a
50-bed recovery ward. 9
It was decided that
entertainers and beauticians did not have to stay, so before sailing, the
ship's crew was reduced from 800 to 413 people, 15 of whom were women,
including Surgical Assistant Dr. Susie West. 9
Note:
Surgical assistants, also called surgical
first assistants, help surgeons with tasks such as making incisions, placing
clamps, and closing surgical sites. Surgical technologists, also called
operating room technicians, prepare operating rooms, arrange equipment, and
help doctors and first assistants during surgeries.
Dr West thus went
from being a cruise ship medic catering to elderly tourists, and eager for an
exciting career, to drawing blood from the 3rd Commando Brigade, Royal Marines,
of whom there were around 3,000. 9
Combat zone
Susie remembers that
many of the Royal Marines thought that there would not be much resistance from
the Argentine conscripts. 9 ("Everyone
said, this is going to be avoided, there will be no blows" "There
will be no bloodshed" 9
On 21 May, while
lying in the San Carlos Strait and supporting Operation Sutton by bombing the
Argentine airstrip at Goose Green, HMS Ardent was attacked by at least three
waves mainly of Argentine Navy Skyhawks (A4Q). The air raids resulted in the
sinking of HMS Ardent the following day and the loss of 22 out of a crew of 199
who then left ship on the frigate HMS Yarmouth. 1,2,5
Note:
Operation Sutton was
the code name for the British landings on the shores of San Carlos Water, at
Ajax Bay and Port San Carlos, near San Carlos on Isla Soledad.
HMS Ardent was a
Royal Navy Type 21 frigate, built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Glasgow and
launched by the Duchess of Gloucester on May 9, 1975. On April 19, 1982, Ardent
sailed from Devonport for the Falkland Islands, as part of the Royal Navy’s
amphibious task force.( HMS Ardent Association- The ARDENT’s final
moments.https://hmsardent.org/ardent-final-images) 5
"This was real war," Susie said. "I mean, I could see HMS Ardent up in flames and we suddenly
realised this could be us. "We're big, we're white, the sky is clear, we
could so easily have been sunk... and yeah, it was very scary. "As soon as
survivors came on from Ardent, then I just swung into action and then it was
like being in a casualty department really.”
Susie couldn't really
see the drama of the fight in all its intensity. Besides the casualties, the
naval aviator José César Arca had been hit 10 times and at a certain moment,
due to an alleged lack of fuel, the British pilot Clay Morell abandoned the
fight. 6
The consequences
The fear and
excitement of the conflict soon gave way to physical and psychological damage.
Arca precisely said: "After the war
one continues to live the war." Aware of this, Susie collaborated when
she returned to Great Britain in the therapy sessions for ex-combatants. 4
Post conflict activities
When the conflict
ended, Susie returned to her activities as a GP in Chingford, Essex combined as
a Naval Reserve medic and as a Metropolitan Police Forensic Medical Practioner.
4,7
Note:
GP (General
Practitoner) is a doctor based in the
community who treats patients with minor or chronic illnesses and refers those
with serious conditions to a hospital.
The book
Susie West wrote her
book An Ordinary Doctor: General practice
&beyond (West Jolly Books, 192
pages) because she realized that her daughter and son knew very little about
her career. 7
The book begins with
the memory of the body of her father who died at the age of 52 when she was 14
years old. 4
The book ends with a
description of what she considers to be wrong with general practice in the National
Health Service(NHS) today and offers suggestions on how to change it. 4
Final Considerations
“ Ideally, the practitioner is a
physician, with the breadth and depth of training sufficient to diagnosis and
treat not only common illnesses but to figure out and discover uncommon
presentations of common maladies, as well as to think of rarer diseases that
are bound to occur among a given population of patients. Managing overlapping and complex multiple
illnesses present in a single patient is another skill not easily undertaken by
ancillary personnel attempting to do true “primary care.” These functions are
unlikely to lend themselves to protocols or algorithms. The ability to know when one does not know
implies that one has at least known of the existence and pathology of the gamut
of medicine, not just the likeliest presentations of illness.”
“ No matter in what country one finds oneself,
there are problems. For example, with more basic surroundings, one does
not have to worry about being sued in court and one’s life savings taken
away. In advanced countries, one is limited by turf battles and certification
(other specialists may not want you doing procedures they feel are only their
prerogative). If the government or commercial clinic is paying one’s salary,
it’s too low. If one is in the marketplace vying for patients, one must
worry whether patients can pay.” “ Some of us find ourselves practicing in
settings, not of our choosing and not geared to make the most of our skills” 3
“I think of
appreciation as an offering of love in which someone is acknowledged or seen.
This acknowledgment is fulfilling the psychological need for belonging and
love.” 8
I´d like to end this
paper with the following suggestions written by Pediatrician Dr. Wendy Shofer:
“ How can you admire
and offer gratitude to yourself for your beautiful contributions to the world?
How can you offer yourself appreciation for the person you are and the doctor
you have become? How can you receive appreciation for how you have persisted,
fallen, triumphed, and survived?
Get yourself the gift
you want: Write love notes to yourself, treat yourself to a bear hug or a
massage, take a walk in the sun, tell yourself how f’ing amazing you are and
how the world is so much better with you in it. Appreciate yourself.
Acknowledge yourself.
As long as we seek
gratitude and appreciation from others, we gamble on what we may receive. You
will be missing a wellspring of appreciation from within.”
