Sam puts Ealing on the map
A surgeon from Ealing Hospital has been chosen as one of 36 prominent black professionals to represent each of London’s NHS Trusts as part of Black History Month.
Samantha Tross, a leading orthopaedic surgeon, will feature in a commemorative map promoted across social media platforms.
She is joined by colleagues like trauma surgeon Martin Griffiths from the Royal London, paediatric nurse Josephine Jim from Great Ormond Street, and Dr Julie-Anne Dowie from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.
Ms Tross was the first female black orthopaedic surgeon in the UK
Samantha, 51, said: “I apparently told my father I wanted to be a surgeon when I was a little girl. I have no idea where that came from beyond being an avid reader.”
She arrived in the UK from Guyana as an 11 year-old and says boarding school taught her independence and people skills, which both proved indispensable later in life.
Samantha added: “I wasn’t aware I was the first black women to qualify as an orthopaedic surgeon at the time and it has never been an issue from me.
“I was lucky to come from a country - Guyana – where there were black people in positions of authority so don’t think twice about setting my sights high.
“My advice to any young person, regardless of race, is believe in yourself, and pursue what you really want to be in life.
“It never occurred to me that I couldn’t be what I dreamed of. I simply set my goal and went after it.”