Katie Jane McDougall

bmj;392/jan06_2/s9/FAF1faKatie McDougall (née Edwards) was born in Penzance and grew up in Twyford, then Henley on Thames. She was educated at the Abbey school in Reading and graduated from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in 1987. After house jobs, she completed GP training in London. In 1991 she was posted to Nkhotakota in Malawi with the charity VSO as district health officer. Here she ran a district of more than 200 000 residents, the local hospital, and nine health centres. She excelled in this role, supporting local healthcare workers and providing education, training, and care for complex cases. During her posting she met Colin McDougall, a fellow GP, who replaced her in Nkhotakota in 1993. Katie remained in Malawi, moving to Salima to work on a World Health Organization project providing clean water to villages. Katie and Colin returned to the UK in 1995, initially working in Inverness before settling…