Dr Trudy Smith graduated from the University of Witwatersrand as an Obstetrician & Gynaecologist. She did some general surgical training after graduating and then had the opportunity to work at the Hammersmith Hospital in London for eighteen months, in the field of gynaecological oncology. It was here that her passion for caring for women with gynaecological cancers was ignited. Here she acquired the skills that have made her one of the foremost colposcopists in South Africa and where she learnt the technique of performing LLETZ procedures as an outpatient under local anaesthetic. She returned to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital to form part of the newly formed Gynaecological Oncology unit.
She currently works at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre and assists in the training and teaching of undergraduate doctors and future Gynaecologists and Gynaecological Oncologists, through the University of the Witwatersrand. She has attended numerous courses including the British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology colposcopy course. She has published several papers and written two chapters in undergraduate textbooks. She has proven herself a popular participant in television and radio programs requiring obstetric and gynaecological expertise. Together with Dr Carter she is passionate about preventing cervical cancer, which should be a completely preventable disease with access to basic gynaecological care.