Carmel Ramage.
Can you tell us a little bit about what first attracted you to medicine and then what led you to specialise in urogynaecology?
To be honest, I’m not sure I ever really made a conscious decision about my career. I wasn’t given much careers counselling at school. It was just “you can choose between medicine and law”. Initially, I was inclined to become a barrister as a friend’s much older brother was training for the bar, but then my father said “you would make a much better doctor than a lawyer”, so that’s what I did!
At medical school, I really enjoyed my obstetrics and gynaecology rotation, and my personal tutor was an O&G consultant who encouraged me to write my student project in the area, so that was an easy path to follow. And then my first registrar was Alfred Cutner who had just come from working with Linda Cardozo, whom I then rotated to work for and who then offered me a research post, so that was me sorted!
What have been your career highlights so far?
I feel I am very lucky to have really enjoyed my career; there cannot be many people who are still enthusiastic about their job after nearly 35 years. There are many special moments and quite a few achievements, but a good combination of these was hosting the UKCS meeting in Bradford in 2013. The organising team, events team and scientific committee all coming together to make a great educational and social event. It was a lot of work, but so good that we have decided to do it again in 2026!
Who has inspired you along the way and what advice has stuck with you?
There have been many role models and people I have looked up to and admired – and still do. Linda Cardozo would have to rank top in this high achieving group – her expansive knowledge, hard work, commitment to the furthering of research in urogynaecology and care for her team inspired me when I was a very junior trainee and I have always striven to be the best I can be.
Would you encourage newly qualified medics to consider entering the specialty?
Very definitely! It is a great mix of medicine and surgery, requires knowledge, skill and common sense, a desire to understand how problems affect patients and to work with them to improve their quality of life. What could be more fulfilling?
Do you think multidisciplinary working needs to improve?
That’s an interesting question and would probably be answered differently according to where you work. We have an amazing team in Bradford that really does work well together – and socialise together as well sometimes. I feel very privileged to work with our amazing urogynaecology and urology nurses as well as the consultants, our pelvic floor physiotherapists, care of the elderly consultant, colorectal consultants and clinical physiologists. We obviously have joint MDTs but can also just pick up the phone for a chat or some advice anytime.
You are the Conference Chair for the United Kingdom Continence Society (UKCS) Annual Meeting taking place in Bradford in March; what led to you becoming involved with the organisation?
I have always been part of the UKCS family, having gone to their very first meeting in Bristol when I was a junior doctor – Linda was always keen to support UKCS, so we went en masse.
It is the only real multidisciplinary continence society in the UK and the meetings showcase a great range of research work and practice that we can all learn from, combined with a great social programme and a chance to catch up with old friends. I then got drawn into the work that UKCS was doing on standardising urodynamic practice in the early 2000’s and found myself as vice chair and then chair of the society for a few years, as well as hosting the 2013 meeting.
What do you think will be the programme highlights for the Annual Meeting?
The title for our upcoming UKCS meeting in Bradford is ‘Continence from the Cradle to the Grave’ This allows the whole of our multidisciplinary team to be involved. Our opening Keynote lecture is from Professor John Wright on the Born in Bradford research programme – the largest ever study in the UK looking at what keeps families healthy and happy by tracking the lives of over 60,000 ‘Bradfordians’, from the antenatal period onwards. We shall then go through childhood, adolescence and the transition to adult services, including childbirth and perinatal pelvic health, sport and the pelvic floor and the menopause, finishing with an afternoon devoted to the specific needs of older people – a whole lifetime of continence in two days!
Would you encourage urologists as well as continence advisors and urogynaecologists to attend?
Absolutely! There is something in the programme for everyone. Ms Lizi Kidger, our urology consultant is an active participant in the organising committee and is chair of the scientific committee. She has enlisted the help of several of her urology contacts as speakers, particularly around topics such as paediatrics, which urogynaecologists have less interaction with. I would hope that the whole programme would be interesting to anyone caring for people with continence problems – we have certainly tried to design it that way!
And finally, if you have any spare time what do you do to relax?
I think spare time is a bit of a myth. If you are used to being busy, there is always something to fill any available minute. We spend a lot of time travelling around the UK (visiting our four now adult children) and abroad and have had some great family holidays where we try to balance activities, culture and usually a few days R&R at the end, most recently a once in a lifetime trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos. Since the children left home, we try to go to a live event every month – we have managed a Bruce Springsteen concert, several country music concerts, ballet (not my husband’s favourite), opera (jury is out on that one too) and several trips to the theatre this year. When we are at home I enjoy going to the gym, walking in the Yorkshire Dales, knitting and reading.
Many thanks for your time!
SAVE THE DATE
UKCS Annual Scientific Meeting
22-24 April 2026
Bradford, UK
https://www.ukcs.uk.net/UKCS-2026-Initial
