Dr Shan Shan Jing is a plastic surgeon based in the West Midlands. Growing up with two doctor parents, medicine was always part of her world — and plastic surgery appealed for its breadth and creativity. Today, she thrives in a specialty that allows her to operate on every part of the body and transform patients’ lives in meaningful ways.
Yet, despite her passion and expertise, Dr Shan Shan continues to face sexism within the male-dominated field of plastic surgery. From patient assumptions that she is a nurse, to feeling the need to work harder for the same level of respect as her male colleagues, gender bias remains a persistent barrier for many women in medicine.
This issue came sharply into focus during the widely criticised #medbikini controversy, when a published study implied that female surgeons posting bikini photos on social media were behaving unprofessionally. The backlash was immediate — and powerful. Dr Shan Shan joined thousands of doctors worldwide in pushing back, using the hashtag #medbikini to challenge outdated stereotypes and demand respect for women in healthcare.
For Dr Shan Shan, advocacy is part of her mission. She loves her work — innovative, creative, and far broader than cosmetic surgery alone — and she believes that surgeons should be valued for their skill, compassion, and dedication, not judged by gender or appearance. While progress has been made, she continues to speak out until sexism in medicine is truly a thing of the past.
Read the full article: Dr Shan Shan Jing on sexism in the medical profession →
