Margaret Cleaves
Encyclopedia
Margaret Cleaves M.D., physician
, pioneer of electrotherapy
and brachytherapy
, instructor in Electro-Therapeutics New York Post-Graduate Medical School, President of the Women's Medical Society of New York, Fellow of the American Electro-Therapeutic Association, Member Société Francaise d'Electrothérapie, Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine
, Editor of Asylum Notes: Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 1891-2, member of the Medical Society of the County of New York, member of the American Medical Association
, member of the New York Electrical Society.
The daughter of an Iowa doctor, Margaret Cleaves earned a degree in medicine from the Iowa State University Medical Department in 1873. She was licensed to practice medicine in Iowa
(1873), Illinois
(1876), Pennsylvania
(1880) and New York
(1890). Cleaves lectured and had clinical practice in London, Paris, Leipzig, Berlin and New York. From 1873-6, Cleaves worked as an assistant physician at the State Hospital for the Insane, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Cleaves was the first woman physician to regularly treat mental illness
at that institution, she subsequently served as a member of the board of trustees. From 1880-3, Cleaves was physician-in-chief of the Women's Department, State Hospital for the Insane, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1885, Cleaves was appointed to the University of Iowa
Medical Department's examining committee, "perhaps the first woman to serve in that capacity in the United States." In 1895, Cleaves founded the New York Electro-Therapeutic Clinic, Laboratory and Dispensary in New York City. Her work there included the treatment of a large number of cases of neurasthenia
among both male and female patients. Cleaves was a prolific author on topics concerning the use of radiation and electricity to treat illnesses. Cleaves also invented a variety of instruments for such treatments.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, pioneer of electrotherapy
Electrotherapy
Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment In medicine, the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of...
and brachytherapy
Brachytherapy
Brachytherapy , also known as internal radiotherapy, sealed source radiotherapy, curietherapy or endocurietherapy, is a form of radiotherapy where a radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment...
, instructor in Electro-Therapeutics New York Post-Graduate Medical School, President of the Women's Medical Society of New York, Fellow of the American Electro-Therapeutic Association, Member Société Francaise d'Electrothérapie, Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine
New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine was founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York City metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health reform...
, Editor of Asylum Notes: Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 1891-2, member of the Medical Society of the County of New York, member of the American Medical Association
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...
, member of the New York Electrical Society.
The daughter of an Iowa doctor, Margaret Cleaves earned a degree in medicine from the Iowa State University Medical Department in 1873. She was licensed to practice medicine in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
(1873), Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
(1876), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(1880) and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(1890). Cleaves lectured and had clinical practice in London, Paris, Leipzig, Berlin and New York. From 1873-6, Cleaves worked as an assistant physician at the State Hospital for the Insane, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Cleaves was the first woman physician to regularly treat mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
at that institution, she subsequently served as a member of the board of trustees. From 1880-3, Cleaves was physician-in-chief of the Women's Department, State Hospital for the Insane, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1885, Cleaves was appointed to the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
Medical Department's examining committee, "perhaps the first woman to serve in that capacity in the United States." In 1895, Cleaves founded the New York Electro-Therapeutic Clinic, Laboratory and Dispensary in New York City. Her work there included the treatment of a large number of cases of neurasthenia
Neurasthenia
Neurasthenia is a psycho-pathological term first used by George Miller Beard in 1869 to denote a condition with symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, headache, neuralgia and depressed mood...
among both male and female patients. Cleaves was a prolific author on topics concerning the use of radiation and electricity to treat illnesses. Cleaves also invented a variety of instruments for such treatments.