[2] After completing his yearly residency in 1884, Donald joined the Royal Navy and worked as a Naval surgeon while sailing to India.

[1] When Donald returned from India in 1885, he was appointed to a senior resident position at Saint Mary's Hospital, Manchester with the job title Resident Obstetric Assistant Surgeon[4] and elected to the staff of the hospital in 1888,[1] In 1895 Donald was appointed to his final surgical position as a gynaecological surgeon at the Manchester Royal Infirmary.

[5][6] During World War I, Donald served with the rank of captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps that was attached to the 2nd Western General Hospital.

In the same year he finally convinced the university to create a new chair in clinical obstetrics and gynaecology in which he occupied until 1925 when he became emeritus professor.

[7] Donald's student, William Edward Fothergill subsequently refined the operation by combining the two steps into one and including parametrial fixation.