Margery Scott-Young (25 May 1912 – 4 November 1997) was an Australian

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

's Rachel Forster Hospital. She served as a major in the

Royal Australian Army Medical Corps The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian colon ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Margery Scott-Young was born in

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

on 25 May 1912. She attended

Monte Sant'Angelo Mercy College Monte Sant'Angelo Mercy College (commonly referred to as Monte Sant'Angelo or ''Monte'') is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex secondary day school for girls, located in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded by the Sisters ...

and qualified as

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in 1936. Scott-Young was appointed to

Sydney Hospital Sydney Hospital, historically known as the Rum Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Macquarie Street in the Sydney central business district. It is the oldest hospital in Australia, dating back to 1788, and has been at ...

as a resident in 1936, and a year later she was made medical superintendent of the Rachel Forster Hospital. She moved to the

Royal Hospital for Women The Royal Hospital for Women (RHW) is a specialist hospital for women and babies located in the suburb of Randwick in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Royal Hospital for Women shares the Randwick Hospitals' Campus site with the Prince of ...

in 1939 and left in 1940 to join the

, eventually rising to the rank of major. She served at the 113th Australian General Hospital at Concord along with fellow women military doctors

Gwen Fleming Mary Gwenyth "Gwen" Fleming (née Lusby) (9 June 1916 – 18 January 2011) was an Australian medical doctor who specialised in thoracic medicine and served in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps during the Second World War. Early life and ...

, Helen Braye and Eileen Scott-Young.Women Doctors Appointed to Military Post
''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'' 13 February 1942 page 6 After World War II, she returned to the Rachel Forster Hospital's surgical department, holding the position of honorary assistant surgeon (1946–58) and honorary consultant surgeon (1958–72). She retired from practice in 1972 but continued to be active in the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

branch of the

Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an independent professional association for Australian physician, doctors and medical school#Medical students, medical students. The association is not a government authority and does not regulate or ...

, the Australian Federation of Medical Women, the Medical Benevolent Association of NSW, and the Australian Postgraduate Federation of Medicine. Scott-Young was elected a fellow of the

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is the leading advocate for surgical standards, professionalism and surgical education in Australia and New Zealand. Known by its common acronym RACS, it is a not-for-profit organisation, supp ...

and the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgery, surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wa ...

in 1953. She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1977. Her memoir, titled ''Family Bugles'', was published in 1991, and she died in

Lane Cove Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the ...

on 4 November 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott-Young, Margery 1912 births 1997 deaths Australian fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Sydney Medical School alumni People from the North Shore, Sydney Australian women in World War II Medical doctors from Sydney People educated at Monte Sant'Angelo Mercy College Australian women surgeons 20th-century Australian surgeons 20th-century Australian women medical doctors