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Desmet's approach was admired by patients, nurses and junior doctors; she was described by one of her registrars as "an iron fist in a velvet glove". She described her own career as such: "I feel that my real claim to fame is that of having managed to combine the careers of motherhood and surgery."
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in 1969. After Louis died of cancer in 1973, Irene raised their three children (then aged 12, 10 and 9) while working full-time. She became a consultant paediatric surgeon at Alder Hey and a lecturer with the
University of Liverpool in 1974. In 1978, she co-authored the textbook
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In 1960 she married Louis Desmet, a former
Belgian oyster farmer who later ran a hotel in Liverpool, and they had three children shortly afterwards. While her children were young, she worked as a clinical assistant at Alder Hey and Birkenhead Children's Hospital and completed a
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in 1928 to George
Stanley Irving, a chemical engineer, and Mary Ellen Irving (née Stockley). She attended
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Desmet retired in 1986 after being diagnosed with two separate cancers. She died on 5 March 2020.
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to learn to fly, and gained her pilot's licence in 1948. She graduated from
Liverpool with an
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111:, she was inspired by Forshall to pursue further training as a paediatric surgeon.
67:. At university, she was inspired by her friends who had previously served in the
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Illman, John (2020). "Irene Marion Desmet: pioneering neonatal surgeon".
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Irving; 25 March 1928 – 5 March 2020) was an eminent
English
233:"Irene Desmet, pioneering paediatric surgeon – obituary"
103:. After completing her general surgical training at the
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for her whole life, and was a consultant surgeon at
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Fellows of the Royal
College of Surgeons of England
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87:, before becoming a senior house officer at
302:Academics of the University of Liverpool
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16:English paediatric surgeon (1928–2020)
297:Alumni of the University of Liverpool
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212:Royal College of Surgeons of England
208:"Irving, Irene Marion (1928 - 2020)"
109:Royal College of Surgeons of England
107:in 1957, becoming a Fellow of the
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206:Craft, Alan (23 September 2021).
63:and then studied medicine at the
83:Irving held house posts at the
292:Medical doctors from Liverpool
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105:David Lewis Northern Hospital
89:Alder Hey Children's Hospital
45:Alder Hey Children's Hospital
277:British paediatric surgeons
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122:Rickham's Neonatal Surgery
61:Broughton Hall High School
39:. She lived and worked in
99:, two of the founders of
85:Liverpool Royal Infirmary
55:Irene Irving was born in
91:, where she worked with
65:University of Liverpool
238:The Daily Telegraph
20:Irene Marion Desmet
101:paediatric surgery
93:Peter Paul Rickham
174:10.1136/bmj.m1397
97:Isabella Forshall
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282:English surgeons
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37:neonatal surgeon
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272:2020 deaths
267:1928 births
261:Categories
140:References
132:Later life
51:Early life
33:paediatric
245:14 August
217:14 August
182:214806824
168:: m1397.
75:in 1952.
57:Liverpool
41:Liverpool
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79:Career
73:MB ChB
178:S2CID
247:2022
219:2022
95:and
35:and
24:FRCS
170:doi
166:369
161:BMJ
117:ChM
29:née
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