Female surgeons have faced one of the toughest, most protracted fights in medicine to secure their place in operating theatres — a fight which continues today.

For generations they were prevented from accessing training and when they did, they were frequently met with resistance from top institutions dominated by men.

Some even went to the extreme lengths of pretending to be male to pursue the career path, as the story of Dr James Barry shows.

As the numbers female surgeons increase, however, the question now being asked is whether they make better surgeons than their male counterparts?