Rosamond Gruer: rose above convention and sexism to forge a successful career in health services research

Despite blazing a trail as one of the few female medical students of her day, Rosamond Gruer did not expect to work as a doctor after she married. As a mother of four her duties were as a housewife and practice receptionist. She became an expert knitter and dressmaker and hosted increasingly elaborate dinner parties based on recipes by the celebrity chef Robert Carrier.

However, when her GP husband, Kenneth, failed to find a replacement partner for his practice in the Aberdeenshire quarry village of Kemnay, Rosamond became his assistant and then partner. She was reluctant at first, feeling untrained and out of touch with medicine, as well as still doing most of the child rearing and household running. But she soon grew in confidence and discovered she had the resilience and capability to cope.

Kenneth became ill a few years later and, seeking a less stressful life, the family moved to Edinburgh, where Rosamond’s career began in earnest and she became a health services researcher. She studied epidemiology, statistics, and public health at Edinburgh University and began a series of groundbreaking studies …