Originally from Angus, Fairlie graduated from St Andrews in 1915 with an MBChB. After graduating, Fairlie undertook training in obstetrics and gynaecology at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester. In 1919, she returned to Dundee, spending the remainder of her career as a consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician.

Groundbreaking gynaecology

 Fairlie was the first to implement groundbreaking research to treat gynaecological malignancy in Scotland.

Treating cervical cancers with radium therapy was a breakthrough in the field of gynaecology, following Marie Curie’s discovery of radium. Fairlie learned of these new clinical applications of radium while visiting the Marie Curie Foundation in Paris in 1926. She brought these techniques back to Scotland and used them in her own practice.

The first female professor

 Fairlie taught at University College Dundee, then part of St Andrews’ Bute Medical School, for most of her career. She was also a consultant at Dundee Royal Infirmary.

In 1936, she was appointed Head of Midwifery and Gynaecology. While a head of department would usually be given a professorship, this was delayed due to sexist attitudes and bureaucratic tensions between Dundee and St Andrews.

In 1940, Fairlie was officially made Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of St Andrews. Fairlie was the first woman to hold a professorial chair in Scotland, and remained the only female professor in Scotland at her retirement in 1956.

Margaret Fairlie was pioneering in Scotland for her use of radium to treat gynaecological cancers. Her professorship was groundbreaking for all women in academia.