common thread

Fashion and surgery may not seem like the most natural of pairings, but for Dr Katherine Gale her twin passions have proven equally creative. While she loved science and academia throughout school and university, she always enjoyed the creativity of sewing. “I really liked the construction of pattern-drafting, where I would work out the physics and maths of putting in a pleat or extending a skirt,” she says.

Having an eye for detail comes naturally to the talented surgeon, who is part of a team pioneering oncoplastic breast surgery in New Zealand. After training as a general surgeon through the Australasian College of Surgeons, Dr Gale