Intended for healthcare professionals

Obituaries

Jean Eileen Lawrie (née Grant)

BMJ 2010; 340 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c1933 (Published 09 April 2010) Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c1933
  1. Janet Husband,
  2. Christina Williams

    Dr Jean Lawrie CBE MBBS was a remarkable woman who, during a career which spanned over 50 years, championed change for medical women and helped to establish their place in a man’s world. Through her endeavours women doctors can now enjoy a successful and rewarding career as well as assuming the responsibilities of family life. Indeed there are a number of women still practising medicine today who owe Dr Lawrie an enormous debt of gratitude for her wise counsel, personal encouragement, and support in the early days of their careers when the struggle to maintain a professional working life was daunting and the path ahead was far from clear.

    Jean Lawrie subsequently played a key role in influencing government policy to introduce flexible and part-time training and to develop the retainer scheme which enabled women doctors to keep their hand in over the years when family commitments were too demanding to pursue an active career. Her vision for women in medicine was realised though her characteristically indomitable spirit and resolute determination to overcome any obstacles that stood in her way, however overwhelming. These exceptional qualities, which made Jean Lawrie a superb leader in the world of medical politics, were also …

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