Leading surgeon Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher on her fascinating work

LOUTH WOMAN DR. SIDHBH GALLAGHER IS A LEADING LIGHT IN GENDER AFFIRMATION SURGERY IN THE U.S STATE OF INDIANAPOLIS. SHE TELLS OLIVIA RYAN ABOUT HER FASCINATING WORK

LOUTH woman Dr. Sidhbh Gallagher is blazing a trail for the transgender community in the US as a leading surgeon in gender affirmation surgery in the state of Indianapolis.

Sidhbh, who is originally from Louth Village, spoke to the Argus about her transformative work with the transgender community, saying it is ‘ the most gratifying work I’ve ever done.’

A past pupil of St. Louis, Sidhbh’s extensive surgical experience included an internship in a hospital in Atlanta, and a long spell in a busy ‘ER’ room in a Philadelphia Hospital.

‘ The idea to be a doctor came early as I figured I would always at least be employable and useful if I did medicine,’ said Sidhbh as she recalls her early days at school in Dundalk.

After her Leaving Cert (‘which I still have nightmares about!’) Sidhbh earned a place at UCD to study medicine. ‘After that I did a one year internship in The Mater in 2006. It was at that point I thought it was best to go and get training in the States - there was one female surgeon in the Mater at the time. Surgery still wasn’t the easiest path for the girls in Ireland then. So I was very lucky to get into a general surgery program in Philadelphia. This was a step in the right direction for getting into plastic surgery.’

After making the move Stateside, she added: ‘ the next five years were a complete blur to be honest. I worked 100 hours a week and had no life. That was shock at first – the Americans would take pride in having no life and soon enough I bought into that also.’

Reflecting on the sacrifices she had to make, Sidhbh says she ‘missed every Christmas and family event.’

‘In return for this however, I got amazing training. Spending every Saturday night in a busy Philadelphia ER you get to see the most unbelievable things. It was trauma surgery, bringing people back by cracking open their chests in the ER after they had already died. Watching over an ICU full of people trying to die…massive cancer surgeries. It was an incredible training ground.’

‘But I still was drawn to the creativity of plastic surgery. After five years in Philadelphia I was very lucky to get into the Plastic surgery program at Indiana University. It is a very strong diverse program serving a population of six million people.’

She recalls how her interest in plastic surgery was sparked during an internship in Atlanta.

‘It was like stepping onto the set of a medical drama. People shot and coding everywhere – I loved the rush!’ I knew at that point I wanted to do something surgical. However I could see trauma surgeons were over-worked and miserable. I then rotated in plastics and it immediately clicked. They were doing real ‘Frankenstein’ stuff. Taking parts the body completely off and sewing them back on underneath a microscope. I was blown away and I really hoped that reconstructing and enhancing body parts would feel the same as making pieces of art back in the Louis did..Luckily- it does!’

After completing a further three years of plastic surgery training at Indiana ‘and loving it’; Sidhbh adds: ‘It was everything I hoped, never a dull moment, no two surgeries were the same so truly it is an art. I loved making things look good. Cosmetic surgery fascinates me for this reason.’

‘I was initially drawn to the field of transgender surgery because I loved the idea of completely transforming body parts and keeping them still fully functional.’

Drawn initially to the creativity of working with body parts, she adds: ’As it turns out though nothing I have done in my career has ever felt as good as working with the transgender community. Being able to use my skills to align a patient’s appearance with their true identity is the most gratifying thing imaginable.’

‘ The strange thing is I never personally knew any transgender people before getting into the field. But I very quickly developed a massive respect for these people. Having the courage to come out and be your authentic self in the rural Midwest is truly something to be admired. Though things are better for transgender people now its still really not always pretty.’

‘Gender dysphoria if untreated has a 46% suicide attempt rate and many of my patients consider their surgeries truly lifesaving. I get such a kick out of being able to help these people along their journey.’

The choice of Indiana to begin her career in transgender surgery wasn’t an easy on in itself, with the conservative state being home to US Vice President, Mike Pence, a man who wasn’t considered a friend of the LGBTQ or transgender community.

Dr. Gallagher also works at Indiana University, as an assistant professor (teaching medical students and residents) as well as a plastic surgeon.

‘I started the program here at the university in 2015 after coming back from travelling round to Belgium, Serbia and Australia to learn the techniques. There is a massive demand – in the US it’s estimated that 3-6/1000 people are transgender. We are one of the few programs in the Midwest. Right now we get about 90 referrals a month.

She adds: ‘By the time a patient gets to my office they have been through so much. They count the days down to their surgeries and for many it’s a really magical time. I had a 67-year -old farmer assigned female at birth but identified as male. We sat in the office looking at ‘ before and afters’ to give him an idea of how he would look after his surgery. Watching his face as he the realisation kicked in that he would soon look like himself after all these years would give you chills.’

Describing it as her ‘dream practice’ Sidhbh explains: ‘I put everything I had into getting this program going and thankfully, this community has been so wonderful to me. Gender confirmation surgery is about 70% of what I do. I still do other types of plastic surgery and indeed was up last Saturday night sewing fingers back on after a fireworks accident!’

Having advanced her career does have its advantages though, as she explains: ‘I’m in charge of my time now so I miss no family events! I’m back all the time even for long weekends.

‘But I know I still work probably way too much – I get up at 4am every morning to work on publications and research before heading in to operate at 7am. I run everyday about six miles to keep my head straight.’

‘ Thankfully my family come over a lot to visit. They work hard to keep me from getting notions over here and becoming too much of ‘ a dose!’’