‘I Do Have Days When I Struggle With The Emotional Side’: Dr Cindy Mak

International Women’s Day holds a personal significance for Dr Cindy Mak. Three years ago, on that March day, she was made Head of Breast Surgery at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in Camperdown – just five years after becoming the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital’s first female breast surgeon, working alongside all-male “giants of surgery”.

Surprisingly though, Dr Mak tells Future Women ahead of the Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation Ladies Lunch later this month, medicine was “not the obvious career choice” when she made the move to Australia from Malaysia as an 18-year-old student.