Dr McEwan was born in 1927 in South Australia, to immigrant parents. She lived out her early years and completed her basic training in South Australia and from her MBBS in 1949. She completed a year as a resident medial officer training at the Royal Adelaide hospital and then went to England for her surgical training. She took the FRACS(Eng) diploma in 1954 and returned to Adelaide where she worked as a Senior Surgical Registrar at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. She took the FRACS diploma in May 1958 and decided to move to Melbourne. She worked under Dr Rank, the then leading plastic surgeon in Australia, and was appointed his associate and subsequently his second assistant at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1960-1961. He research early nerve repair in children showed superior post-operative outcomes at a time when delayed repair was favoured. She was also part of a multidisciplinary team conducting gender reassignment, in individuals with gender dysphoria in 1976. Dr McEwan was also part of a team who further defined adequate surgical margins in the treatment of melanoma. She also was heavily involved in the education of trainees, and was the president of the Victorian Medical Women’s Association. Her contribution to the plastic surgery profession through her research and mentorship created the solid foundation for future plastic surgeons. 1. Marshall D., Simpson D. 2011. Lena McEwan Obituary. RACS website. Accessed December 2023. https://plasticsurgery.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/McEwan-obituary.pdf. 2. Riseman N. 2022. A History of Trans Health in Australia. Accessed December 2023. https://auspath.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AusPATH-Report-on-trans-health-care-history.pdf.