PROGRESS Women in Surgery Fellowship
Applications now open - RCSI PROGRESS Women in Surgery Fellowship 2026
Closing: Thursday, 5 March 2026
RCSI has a long tradition of excellence in surgical training. Our surgeons, male and female, have, over many decades, earned leading positions in institutions across the world.
The College has been at the forefront in developing transparent selection processes for future surgeons. Yet, despite more than 20 years of gender parity among medical graduates, female consultant surgeon numbers in Ireland remain low.
In 2017, RCSI published a comprehensive report, PROGRESS: Promoting Gender Equality in Surgery, which highlighted the scale of the problem and sought to make meaningful recommendations that could ensure surgery as a profession is an attractive and practical career for both men and women.
The College is committed to the findings within the report and we are seeking to make substantial changes to career pathways for females interested in pursuing a career in surgery. We feel that the provision of fellowships and programmes that advance female role models will do much to break down barriers and unlock the potential of women in surgery.
The PROGRESS Women in Surgery Fellowship is a prestigious bursary awarded by RCSI to promote female participation in surgical training at fellowship level. We hope this will in turn support the acquisition of additional surgical skills and knowledge that will contribute to the advancement of surgical science and practice in the island of Ireland.
The successful candidate will be awarded a Fellowship of €45,000 for one year. She will also be awarded the RCSI PROGRESS Fellowship Medal and her name will be added to the Fellowship in Surgery board, displayed in RCSI. The Fellowship will be presented at the annual RCSI Charter Day Meeting.
Supporters
Criteria
Among the criteria which the selection board will consider in making recommendations will be:
- Academic and training record of the applicant
- Reputation of the international host institution
- Defined curriculum and learning outcomes of the Fellowship
- Value of learning experience to surgical practice on the island of Ireland
- How the applicant will use their time, during and after the Fellowship, to promote female participation in surgery
Eligibility
Applications will be considered from the following:
Applicants who have received a confirmed offer of an international fellowship opportunity that will commence no later than the end of 2025.
and
Female Fellows of RCSI (in good standing), who have been awarded their CSCST in the island of Ireland within the previous five years
or
Female surgical trainees who, at the date of application, are at such an advanced stage of surgical training on the island of Ireland that they will be in receipt of a CSCST on or before the end of December 2026 and are also Fellows of RCSI (in good standing)*
* The assessment board reserves the right to contact the TPD and JCST to ensure that there is no impediment to the applicant receiving a CSCST on or before the end of 2026.
Applications are now open for the 2026 Women in Surgery Fellowship.
Applications Open 12 February 2026
Applications Close 5 March 2026
Interview dates Mid-March TBC
Applications should be forwarded to cmcguinness@rcsi.ie by COB 5th March 2026.
The successful candidate will be expected to:
- Provide the College with a full report within three months of completing the Fellowship
- Provide the College with regular updates during the Fellowship, which can be used in internal and external communications by RCSI
- Use the Fellowship to promote a career in surgery for females
- Present a report of the Fellowship at two or more RCSI or international meetings
- Acknowledge the support of RCSI in any publication arising as a result of the Fellowship
- Return to substantial public practice in Ireland after completing the Fellowship
The following were successful in receiving this fellowship in previous years.
| Year | Recipient |
| 2025 | Lauren O'Connell – International Advanced Colorectal Cancer Fellowship at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne |
| 2024 | Ola Ahmed International – Fellowship in Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery at Washington University, St Louis |
| 2023 | Evelyn Patricia Murphy – International Fellowship at Orthopaedic and Arthritis Specialist Centre, Sydney |
| 2022 |
Christina Fleming – |
| 2021 |
Helen Mohan – |
| 2020 |
Ailin Rogers – |