Story 35: QCH’s First Female Surgeon
When Dr. MJ Duncan arrived at Queensway Carleton Hospital in 1986, she was breaking new ground. She became QCH’s first female surgeon at a time when women were still uncommon in surgical specialties – and she was already building a career that would take her far beyond our hospital walls.
Dr. Duncan joined QCH while working as the only plastic surgeon at the former Grace Hospital. She was looking for colleagues who could care for her patients while she travelled abroad for 6-8 week medical missions.
Dr. MJ Duncan at the Malawi Burn ward in the 1980's
A new beginning at QCH
After the Grace Hospital closed, the partnership with QCH plastic surgeons Dr. Ray James and Dr. Bryan Callaghan continued. Together, they shared on-call responsibilities for 26 years.
Dr. Duncan quickly came to appreciate the people and the culture at QCH.
“I developed a real respect for the ED team – physicians, nurses and clerks alike,” she says. “It was a friendly, organized and highly competent environment.”
Her memories of those early years include details that may seem small today: the ED phone extension is still etched in her mind, as are the paper patient charts, and the signatures of current QCH CEO Dr. Andrew Falconer, who was an ED physician at the time.
Dr. Duncan preforming surgery along side her daughter, during 2025 mission to the Dominican.
Breaking ground as the first female surgeon
Dr. Duncan’s arrival was also a milestone in QCH’s history.
As the hospital’s first female surgeon, she was one of just two physicians using a half-sized locker in the OR nurses’ change room. The locker was labelled “lady doctors.” She shared hers with a part-time gynecologist.
The landscape of surgery has changed considerably since then. Today, Dr. Duncan’s daughter is a surgical resident herself, entering a profession in which women are far more prevalent.
Medical missions
Throughout her career, Dr. Duncan continued to volunteer on medical missions, working alongside local surgeons to provide pediatric plastic surgery. Her work included cleft repairs, congenital hand revisions, and burn surgery.
Her most recent trips took her to Haiti and the Dominican Republic with Team Broken Earth, an organization that has attracted many QCH volunteers over the years.
“Medical missions were the highlight of my career,” she says. “They also led me to a new volunteer opportunity as I transitioned from partial to full retirement.”
Dr. Duncan getting picked up at the Zimbabwe airport in 1994
A commitment that continues
Since 2017, Dr. Duncan has volunteered with the local chapter of Not Just Tourists, an organization that collects donated medical supplies and gives them to travellers to deliver to communities in need.
Nearly four decades after Dr. Duncan first arrived at QCH, her story reflects a commitment that has remained constant throughout her surgical career: working with others to ensure patients have access to care and resources they need -- wherever they are.