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Dr Murdoch gained an intercalated BSc in Immunology & Basic Medical Sciences from University College London in 1978 and qualified MB BS from University College Hospital London in 1981. She completed her postgraduate general medical training at Charing Cross and Royal Free Hospitals, London. Specialist dermatology training was undertaken at the Royal London Hospital and St. John's Dermatology Centre, St. Thomas' Hospital, London.In 1991, she was awarded a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship to study the cutaneous and immunological aspects of onchocerciasis, one of the world's leading parasitic infections. During this time she was a Temporary Advisor to the World Health Organization for a multi-country study in Africa on the prevalence of onchcoercal skin disease. She helped pioneer a new classification scheme for the skin changes in onchocerciasis which has been adopted by WHO. She has presented at national and international meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals.

She has also written several chapters in books, including Treatment of Skin Disease and Principles of Medicine in Africa. The latter is a textbook which, thanks to a bursary from Cambridge University Press, is available to medical students in Africa at a very low cost. She is also on the Editorial Board of Community Dermatology which is a free teaching journal sent to primary health care workers in the developing world who do not have ready access to libraries or to the internet.