Women in medicine
Encyclopedia
Historically and in many parts of the world, women's participation in the profession of medicine (as physician
s, for instance) has been significantly restricted, although women's practice of medicine, informally, in the role of caregivers, or in the allied health professions
, has been widespread. Most countries of the world now guarantee equal access by women to medical education
, although not all ensure equal employment opportunities and gender parity has yet to be achieved within the medical specialties and around the world.
Women's participation in the medical professions was limited by law and practice during the decades while medicine was professionalizing
. However, women kept practicing medicine in the allied health fields (nursing
, midwifery
, etc.), and throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, women made significant gains in access to medical education
and medical work through much of the world. These gains were sometimes tempered by setbacks; for instance, Mary Roth Walsh documented a decline in women physicians in the US in the first half of the twentieth century, such that there were fewer women physicians in 1950 than there were in 1900. However, through the latter half of the twentieth century, women had gains generally across the board. In the United States, for instance, women were 9% of total US medical school enrollment in 1969; this had increased to 20% in 1976. By 1985, women comprised 14% of practicing US physicians.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century in industrialized nations, women have made significant gains, but have yet to achieve parity throughout the medical profession. Women have achieved parity in medical school in some industrialized countries, since 2003 forming the majority of the United States medical student body. In 2007-2008, women accounted for 49% of medical school applicants and 48.3% of those accepted. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) 48.3% (16,838) of medical degrees awarded in the US in 2009-10 were earned by women, an increase from 26.8% in 1982-3.
However, the practice of medicine remains disproportionately male overall. In industrialized nations, the recent parity in gender of medical students has not yet trickled into parity in practice. In many developing nations, neither medical school nor practice approach gender parity.
Moreover, there are skews within the medical profession: some medical specialties, such as surgery, are significantly male-dominated, while other specialties are significantly female-dominated, or are becoming so. In the United States, female physicians outnumber male physicians in pediatrics and female residents outnumber male residents in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, and psychiatry.
Women continue to dominate in nursing. In 2000, 94.6% of registered nurses in the United States were women.
Biomedical research and academic medical professions—i.e., faculty at medical schools—are also disproportionately male. Research on this issue, called the "leaky pipeline" by the National Institutes of Health
and other researchers, shows that while women have achieved parity with men in entering graduate school, a variety of discrimination causes them to drop out at each stage in the academic pipeline: graduate school, postdoc, faculty positions, achieving tenure; and, ultimately, in receiving recognition for groundbreaking work. (See women in science
for a broader discussion.)
has been recorded in several early civilizations. An Egypt
ian, Merit Ptah
(2700 BC), described in an inscription as "chief physician", is the earliest woman named in the history of science
. Agamede
was cited by Homer
as a healer in Greece
before the Trojan War
. Agnodike was the first female physician
to practice legally in 4th century BC Athens
.
, convent
s were an important place of education for women, and some of these communities provided opportunities for women to contribute to scholarly research
. An example is the German
abbess
Hildegard of Bingen
, whose prolific writings include treatments of various scientific subjects, including medicine
, botany
and natural history
(c.1151-58). She is considered Germany's first female physician
.
The 11th century saw the emergence of the first universities
. Women were, for the most part, excluded from university
education. However, there were some exceptions. The Italian University of Bologna
, for example, allowed women to attend lectures from its inception, in 1088.
Within the Islamic empire
, between the 800s and 1300s, women generally treated other women, and were trained privately. Practitioners were well respected, with support from government, and many kept their fees low so that any good student could join them.
The attitude to educating women in medical fields in Italy
appears to have been more liberal than in other places. The physician, Trotula di Ruggiero
, is supposed to have held a chair at the Medical School of Salerno
in the 11th century, where she taught many noble Italian women, a group sometimes referred to as the "ladies of Salerno". Several influential texts on women's medicine, dealing with obstetrics
and gynecology, among other topics, are also often attributed to Trotula.
Dorotea Bucca
was another distinguished Italian physician. She held a chair of philosophy and medicine at the University of Bologna for over forty years from 1390. Other Italian women whose contributions in medicine have been recorded include Abella
, Jacobina Félicie, Alessandra Giliani
, Rebecca de Guarna
, Margarita, Mercuriade
(14th century), Constance Calenda
, Calrice di Durisio
(15th century), Constanza, Maria Incarnata and Thomasia de Mattio.
in 1973 by the Boston Women's Health Collective, and second, "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Female Healers", a short paper by Barbara Ehrenreich
and Deirdre English
also in 1973. The Ehrenreich/English paper examined the history of women in medicine as the professionalization of the field excluded women, particularly midwives
, from the practice. Ehrenreich and English later expanded the work into a full-length book, For Her Own Good, which connected the exclusion of women from the practice of medicine to sexist
medical practices; this text and Our Bodies, Ourselves
became key texts in the women's health movement.
The English/Ehrenreich text laid out some early insights about the professionalization of medicine and the exclusion of women from the profession, and numerous scholars have greatly built upon and expanded this work. These scholars include:
Breast cancer awareness
campaigns are an outgrowth of the women's health movement.
:Category:Midwives
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...
s, for instance) has been significantly restricted, although women's practice of medicine, informally, in the role of caregivers, or in the allied health professions
Allied health professions
Allied health professions are clinical health care professions distinct from dentistry, nursing and medicine. One estimate reported allied health professionals make up 60 percent of the total health workforce...
, has been widespread. Most countries of the world now guarantee equal access by women to medical education
Medical education
Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, either the initial training to become a doctor or additional training thereafter ....
, although not all ensure equal employment opportunities and gender parity has yet to be achieved within the medical specialties and around the world.
Modern medicine
Professionalization
Professionalization is the social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." This process tends to involve establishing acceptable qualifications, a professional body or association to oversee the conduct of members...
. However, women kept practicing medicine in the allied health fields (nursing
Nursing
Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
, midwifery
Midwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
, etc.), and throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, women made significant gains in access to medical education
Medical education
Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, either the initial training to become a doctor or additional training thereafter ....
and medical work through much of the world. These gains were sometimes tempered by setbacks; for instance, Mary Roth Walsh documented a decline in women physicians in the US in the first half of the twentieth century, such that there were fewer women physicians in 1950 than there were in 1900. However, through the latter half of the twentieth century, women had gains generally across the board. In the United States, for instance, women were 9% of total US medical school enrollment in 1969; this had increased to 20% in 1976. By 1985, women comprised 14% of practicing US physicians.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century in industrialized nations, women have made significant gains, but have yet to achieve parity throughout the medical profession. Women have achieved parity in medical school in some industrialized countries, since 2003 forming the majority of the United States medical student body. In 2007-2008, women accounted for 49% of medical school applicants and 48.3% of those accepted. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) 48.3% (16,838) of medical degrees awarded in the US in 2009-10 were earned by women, an increase from 26.8% in 1982-3.
However, the practice of medicine remains disproportionately male overall. In industrialized nations, the recent parity in gender of medical students has not yet trickled into parity in practice. In many developing nations, neither medical school nor practice approach gender parity.
Moreover, there are skews within the medical profession: some medical specialties, such as surgery, are significantly male-dominated, while other specialties are significantly female-dominated, or are becoming so. In the United States, female physicians outnumber male physicians in pediatrics and female residents outnumber male residents in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, and psychiatry.
Women continue to dominate in nursing. In 2000, 94.6% of registered nurses in the United States were women.
Biomedical research and academic medical professions—i.e., faculty at medical schools—are also disproportionately male. Research on this issue, called the "leaky pipeline" by the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
and other researchers, shows that while women have achieved parity with men in entering graduate school, a variety of discrimination causes them to drop out at each stage in the academic pipeline: graduate school, postdoc, faculty positions, achieving tenure; and, ultimately, in receiving recognition for groundbreaking work. (See women in science
Women in science
Women have made contributions and sacrifices to science from the earliest times. Like many men in science, women have received little or no distinction for their work during their lifetimes. Science is generally and historically a male-dominated field, and evidence suggests that this is due to...
for a broader discussion.)
History of women in medicine
Ancient medicine
The involvement of women in the field of medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
has been recorded in several early civilizations. An Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian, Merit Ptah
Merit Ptah
Merit Ptah was an early physician in ancient Egypt. She is most notable for being the first woman known by name in the history of the field of medicine, and possibly the first named woman in all of science as well. Her picture can be seen on a tomb in the necropolis near the step pyramid of Saqqara...
(2700 BC), described in an inscription as "chief physician", is the earliest woman named in the history of science
History of science
The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
. Agamede
Agamede
Agamede was a name attributed to two separate women in classical Greek mythology and legendary history:-Mythological:Agamede was, according to Homer, a Greek physician acquainted with the healing powers of all the plants that grow upon the earth...
was cited by Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
as a healer in Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
before the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. Agnodike was the first female physician
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...
to practice legally in 4th century BC Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
Medieval Europe
During the medieval periodMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
s were an important place of education for women, and some of these communities provided opportunities for women to contribute to scholarly research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
. An example is the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
Hildegard of Bingen
Hildegard of Bingen
Blessed Hildegard of Bingen , also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and...
, whose prolific writings include treatments of various scientific subjects, including medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
(c.1151-58). She is considered Germany's first female physician
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...
.
The 11th century saw the emergence of the first universities
Medieval university
Medieval university is an institution of higher learning which was established during High Middle Ages period and is a corporation.The first institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of...
. Women were, for the most part, excluded from university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
education. However, there were some exceptions. The Italian University of Bologna
University of Bologna
The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
, for example, allowed women to attend lectures from its inception, in 1088.
Within the Islamic empire
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
, between the 800s and 1300s, women generally treated other women, and were trained privately. Practitioners were well respected, with support from government, and many kept their fees low so that any good student could join them.
The attitude to educating women in medical fields in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
appears to have been more liberal than in other places. The physician, Trotula di Ruggiero
Trotula of Salerno
Trotula can refer to Trotula of Salerno or the Trotula texts. Trotula of Salerno was a female physician who worked in Salerno, Italy. Several writings about women’s health have been attributed to her, including Diseases of Women, Treatments for Women, and Women’s Cosmetics...
, is supposed to have held a chair at the Medical School of Salerno
Schola Medica Salernitana
The Schola Medica Salernitana was the first medieval medical school in the cosmopolitan coastal south Italian city of Salerno, which provided the most important source of medical knowledge in Western Europe at the time...
in the 11th century, where she taught many noble Italian women, a group sometimes referred to as the "ladies of Salerno". Several influential texts on women's medicine, dealing with obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
and gynecology, among other topics, are also often attributed to Trotula.
Dorotea Bucca
Dorotea Bucca
Dorotea Bucca was an Italian physician. Little is known of her life, except that she held a chair of medicine and philosophy at the University of Bologna for over forty years from 1390...
was another distinguished Italian physician. She held a chair of philosophy and medicine at the University of Bologna for over forty years from 1390. Other Italian women whose contributions in medicine have been recorded include Abella
Abella
Abella was a 14th century Italian physician who taught at the Salerno school of medicine. Abella wrote medical treatises in verse, and lectured on, among other topics, the nature of women. Her published medical treatises, De atrabile and De natura seminis humani , have not survived.-References:*...
, Jacobina Félicie, Alessandra Giliani
Alessandra Giliani
Alessandra Giliani was born in 1307 and died on 26 March 1326, in a blazing inferno at age 19. She was an Italian anatomist, serving as the first female prosector in Italy....
, Rebecca de Guarna
Rebecca de Guarna
Rebecca de Guarna was an Italian physician and surgeon and author in the 14th century. She is one of the few woman physicians known from the middle ages....
, Margarita, Mercuriade
Mercuriade
Mercuriade was an Italian physician, surgeon and medical author in the 14th century. She is one of the few woman physicians known from the middle ages....
(14th century), Constance Calenda
Constance Calenda
Constance Calenda was an Italian surgeon specialising in diseases of the eyeCalenda was the daughter of Salvator Calenda, the dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Salerno in about 1415, and afterwards dean of the faculty at Naples...
, Calrice di Durisio
Calrice di Durisio
Calrice di Durisio was an Italian physician and surgeon in the 15th century.She was educated at the University of Salerno and belonged to the minority of female students of her time period. She specialized in the diseases of the eye.- References :*...
(15th century), Constanza, Maria Incarnata and Thomasia de Mattio.
Historic women's medical schools
When women were routinely forbidden from medical school, they sought to form their own medical schools.- Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (founded 1850 as Female Medical College of Pennsylvania)
- London School of Medicine for WomenLondon School of Medicine for WomenThe London School of Medicine for Women was established in 1874 and was the first medical school in Britain to train women.The school was formed by an association of pioneering women physicians Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Emily Blackwell and Elizabeth Blackwell with Thomas Henry...
(founded 1874) - Edinburgh School of Medicine for WomenEdinburgh School of Medicine for WomenThe Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Dr Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1886, with support from the National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women....
(founded 1886 by Sophia Jex-BlakeSophia Jex-BlakeSophia Louisa Jex-Blake was an English physician, teacher and feminist. She was one of the first female doctors in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a leading campaigner for medical education for women and was involved in founding two medical schools for women, in London and in...
) - Saint Petersburg State Medical UniversitySaint Petersburg State Medical UniversityThe Saint Petersburg State Medical University named after I.P. Pavlov was established in 1897 in St. Petersburg, Russia, as the first Russian medical college for women...
(founded 1897 as Female Medical University) - Tokyo Women's Medical University (founded 1900 by Yoshioka YayoiYoshioka Yayoiwas a physician and women's rights activist, who founded the in 1900, as the first medical school for women in Japan. She was also known as Washiyama Yayoi.-Biography:...
)
Historic hospitals with significant female involvement
- New England Hospital for Women and ChildrenNew England Hospital for Women and ChildrenNew England Hospital for Women and Children was opened in Boston, Massachusetts on July 1, 1862 by Dr. Marie Zakrzewska and Ednah Dow Cheney. The Hospital remained dedicated to women and children until the 1950s when it became financially deficient and after recommendations from the United...
(now called Dimock Community Health Center), founded in 1862 by women doctors "for the exclusive use of women and children" - New Hospital for WomenNew Hospital for WomenThe Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Obstetric Hospital was a hospital in Bloomsbury, London in the United Kingdom. It was operated by the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.-History:...
(founded in the 1870s by Elizabeth Garrett AndersonElizabeth Garrett AndersonElizabeth Garrett Anderson, LSA, MD , was an English physician and feminist, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain and the first female mayor in England.-Early life:...
and run largely by women, for women) - South London Hospital for Women and ChildrenSouth London Hospital for Women and ChildrenThe South London Hospital for Women and Children was a general hospital treating women and children on Clapham Common in London, UK. It was also known as the South London Hospital for Women and the South London Women's Hospital. Founded by Eleanor Davies-Colley and Maud Chadburn in 1912, it always...
(founded 1912 by Eleanor Davies-ColleyEleanor Davies-ColleyEleanor Davies-Colley FRCS was a British surgeon. Among the earliest women in the UK to pursue a career in surgery, at that time an almost entirely male-dominated profession, she was also the co-founder of the South London Hospital for Women and Children.-Early life:Born at Petworth in Sussex, her...
and Maud ChadburnMaud ChadburnMaud Mary Chadburn, LSA, MD, , was one of the earliest women in the United Kingdom to pursue a career as a surgeon...
; closed 1984; employed an all-woman staff)
Pioneering women in medicine
- Merit PtahMerit PtahMerit Ptah was an early physician in ancient Egypt. She is most notable for being the first woman known by name in the history of the field of medicine, and possibly the first named woman in all of science as well. Her picture can be seen on a tomb in the necropolis near the step pyramid of Saqqara...
(2700 BC) - earliest cited women physician - AgamedeAgamedeAgamede was a name attributed to two separate women in classical Greek mythology and legendary history:-Mythological:Agamede was, according to Homer, a Greek physician acquainted with the healing powers of all the plants that grow upon the earth...
pre-Trojan War healer - Agnodike was the first female physician to practice legally in 4th century BC Athens.
- Trotula of SalernoTrotula of SalernoTrotula can refer to Trotula of Salerno or the Trotula texts. Trotula of Salerno was a female physician who worked in Salerno, Italy. Several writings about women’s health have been attributed to her, including Diseases of Women, Treatments for Women, and Women’s Cosmetics...
11th century physician who is supposed to have held a chair at the Medical School of SalernoSchola Medica SalernitanaThe Schola Medica Salernitana was the first medieval medical school in the cosmopolitan coastal south Italian city of Salerno, which provided the most important source of medical knowledge in Western Europe at the time...
. Several influential texts on women's medicine are also often attributed to her. - Hildegard of BingenHildegard of BingenBlessed Hildegard of Bingen , also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and...
(1098–1179) is considered Germany's first female physicianPhysicianA 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...
. She conducted and published comprehensive studies of medicine and natural science. - Dorothea ErxlebenDorothea ErxlebenDorothea Christiane Erxleben née Leporin was the first female medical doctor in Germany...
(1715–1762) The first female doctor granted an M.D. in Germany. - James Miranda BarryJames Barry (surgeon)James Barry , was a military surgeon in the British Army. After graduation from the University of Edinburgh, Barry served in India and Cape Town, South Africa. By the end of his career, he had risen to the rank of Inspector General in charge of military hospitals...
(179?-1865) A renowned woman doctor who passed as a man to gain a medical education and practice medicine. - Lovisa ÅrbergLovisa ÅrbergMaria Lovisa Åhrberg or Årberg , was a Swedish surgeon and doctor. She was the first recognised female doctor in Sweden. She was a doctor and a surgeon already in the 1820s, long before it was formally permitted for women in 1870...
(1801–1881) first woman doctor and surgeon in Sweden. - Amalia AssurAmalia AssurAmalia Assur was the first female dentist in Sweden.Amalia Assur was the daughter of the Jewish dentist Joel Assur, "one of the first dentists in Sweden". Assur was active as her fathers assistant, and her brother was also a dentist. In 1852, she was given special permission from the Royal Board...
(1803–1889) first woman dentist in Sweden and possibly Europe. - Ann PrestonAnn PrestonAnn Preston was an American doctor and educator.Born in West Grove, Pennsylvania as one of eight siblings, she was raised as a Quaker by a Quaker minister Amos and his wife Margaret Preston. Three of the children were girls, but Ann was the only one to survive until adulthood...
, (1813–1872) first female deanDean (education)In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of any medical schoolMedical schoolA medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
. - Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910) First woman to graduate from medical school in the US; MD 1849, Geneva CollegeGeneva CollegeGeneva College is a Christian liberal arts college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergraduates in...
, New YorkNew YorkNew 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...
. - Rebecca Lee Crumpler, (8 February 1831 – 9 March 1895) first African American woman physician in the United States.
- Lucy Hobbs TaylorLucy Hobbs Taylor-External links:*...
(1833–1910) The first woman dentist in the United States. - Madeleine BrèsMadeleine BrèsMadeleine Brès was a French doctor in medicine. She was the first woman to have obtained a French medicial license.- Sources :...
(1839–1925), the first French female MD - Nadezhda SuslovaNadezhda SuslovaNadezhda Prokofyevna Suslova was Russia's first female physician and a sister of Polina Suslova. She worked as a gynecologist in Nizhny Novgorod, was involved in many charity efforts.- Early life :...
(1843–1918), the first Russian female MD, a graduate of Zurich University - Elizabeth Garrett AndersonElizabeth Garrett AndersonElizabeth Garrett Anderson, LSA, MD , was an English physician and feminist, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in Britain and the first female mayor in England.-Early life:...
(1836–1917) Pioneering woman doctor and feminist in Britain; co-founder of London School of Medicine for WomenLondon School of Medicine for WomenThe London School of Medicine for Women was established in 1874 and was the first medical school in Britain to train women.The school was formed by an association of pioneering women physicians Sophia Jex-Blake, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Emily Blackwell and Elizabeth Blackwell with Thomas Henry...
. - Frances HogganFrances HogganFrances Elizabeth Hoggan MD was the first British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine from a university in Europe, and the first female doctor to be registered in Wales....
(1843–1927) First British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine (1870). - Edith Pechey-Phipson (1845–1908) Pioneering doctor in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; MD 1877, University of Bern and Trinity College Dublin. - Margaret CleavesMargaret CleavesMargaret 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...
(1848–1917) Pioneering doctor in the brachytherapyBrachytherapyBrachytherapy , 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...
; M.D. 1873. - Maria Cuţarida-Crătunescu (1857–1919), the first Romanian female MD, a graduate of Zurich University
- Dolors Aleu (1857–1913), the first female MD in Spain
- Anandi Gopal Joshi A (or Anandibai Joshi)(March 31, 1865 - February 26, 1887)-Anandibai addressed the community at Serampore College Hall, explaining her decision to go to America and obtain a medical degree. She discussed the persecution she and her husband had endured. She stressed the need for Hindu female doctors in India, and talked about her goal of opening a medical college for women in India. She also pledged that she would not convert to Christianity. Her speech received publicity, and financial contributions started coming in from all over India. The then Viceroy of India contributed 200 rupees to a fund for her education.She graduated with an M.D. on March 11, 1886, the topic of her thesis having been "Obstetrics among the Aryan Hindoos". The princely state of Kolhapur appointed her as the physician-in-charge of the female ward of the local Albert Edward Hospital.Anandibai died early next year on February 26, 1887 before reaching age 22. Her death was mourned throughout India.
- Kadambini GangulyKadambini GangulyKadambini Ganguly was one of the first female graduates of the British Empire along with Chandramukhi Basu. She was one of the first female physicians of South Asia to be trained in European medicine.-Early life:...
(1861 – 3 October 1923), Ganguly studied medicine at the Calcutta Medical College. In 1886, she was awarded a GBMC (Graduate of Bengal Medical College) degree, which gave her the right to practise. She thus became one of the two, Anandi Gopal Joshi being the other, Indian women doctor qualified to practice western medicine. A social reformer herself, Kadambini overcame stiff opposition from the teaching staff, and orthodox sections of society. She went to the United Kingdom in 1892 and returned to India after qualifying as LRCP (Edinburgh), LRCS (Glasgow), and GFPS (Dublin). After working for a short period in Lady Dufferin Hospital, she started her own private practice. - Emma K. WillitsEmma WillitsEmma K. Willits was a pioneering woman physician and surgeon who played an important role in the development of Children's Hospital in San Francisco , serving as the head of the Department of General Surgery from 1921 to 1934.She is believed to be the third...
(1869–1965) Believed to be only the third woman to specialize in surgery and the first to head a Department of General Surgery—at Children's Hospital in San Francisco, 1921-1934. - Vera GedroitzVera GedroitzPrincess Vera Ignatievna Giedroyc was a Lithuanian princess, a doctor of medicine, a professor, the first female surgeon in Russia, one of the first female professors of surgery in the world, and a writer of poetry and prose.Giedroyc belonged to a Lithuanian princely clan which shared its origins...
(1870–1932) - the first women-professors of surgery in the world - Maria MontessoriMaria MontessoriMaria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator, a noted humanitarian and devout Catholic best known for the philosophy of education which bears her name...
(1870–1952), the first female MD in Italy - Hannah MyrickHannah MyrickHannah Myrick was a physician who received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1900, thereby helping to blaze the trail for more women to enter medicine...
(1871–1973), helped to introduce the use of X-rayX-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
s at the New England Hospital for Women and ChildrenNew England Hospital for Women and ChildrenNew England Hospital for Women and Children was opened in Boston, Massachusetts on July 1, 1862 by Dr. Marie Zakrzewska and Ednah Dow Cheney. The Hospital remained dedicated to women and children until the 1950s when it became financially deficient and after recommendations from the United... - Yoshioka YayoiYoshioka Yayoiwas a physician and women's rights activist, who founded the in 1900, as the first medical school for women in Japan. She was also known as Washiyama Yayoi.-Biography:...
(1871–1959) One of the first women to gain a medical degree in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
; founded a medical school for women in 1900. - Marie EquiMarie EquiMarie Diana Equi was an American medical doctor and anarchist. Her father was Italian and her mother of Irish parentage.-Biography:...
(1872–1952) American doctor and activist for women's access to birth control and abortion. - Muthulakshmi ReddiMuthulakshmi ReddiDr. Muthulakshmi Reddi was an eminent medical practitioner, social reformer and Padma Bhushan awardee in India. She was the first women legislator in India....
(1886–1968) One of the early women doctor in IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; major social reformer; founder of a significant medical institution; MD 1912, Madras Medical CollegeMadras Medical CollegeThe Madras Medical College is an educational institution located in Chennai, India. It was established on February 2, 1835. It is the oldest medical college in India, along with the Medical College Kolkata.-History:...
. - Safieh Ali (1900-?) First Turkish doctor, educated in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. - Virginia ApgarVirginia ApgarVirginia Apgar was an American pediatric anesthesiologist. She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and effectively founded the field of neonatology...
(1909–1974) Significant work in anesthesiology and teratologyTeratologyTeratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development. It is often thought of as the study of human birth defects, but it is much broader than that, taking in other non-birth developmental stages, including puberty; and other non-human life forms, including plants.- Etymology :The...
; founded field of neonatologyNeonatologyNeonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn infant. It is a hospital-based specialty, and is usually practiced in neonatal intensive care units...
; first woman granted full professorship at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. - Jane Elizabeth HodgsonJane Elizabeth HodgsonJane Elizabeth Hodgson was an American obstetrician and gynecologist. She is the only person ever convicted in the United States of performing an abortion in a hospital. Hodgson received a bachelor's degree from Carleton College and her M.D. from the University of Minnesota...
(1915–2006) Pioneering provider of reproductive health care for women and advocate for women's rights. - Nancy C. Andrews (b.1958) First woman Dean of a major medical school in the United States (2007, Duke University School of MedicineDuke University School of MedicineThe Duke University School of Medicine is Duke University's medical school operating under the auspices of the Duke University Medical Center. Established in 1925 by James B...
.
Women's history and women's health movement
Scholars have been examining the history and sociology of medicine for decades. Biographies of pioneering women physicians were common throughout this time, but the study of women in medicine took particular root with the advent of the women's movement in the 1960s, and in conjunction with the women's health movement. Two publications in 1973 were critical in establishing the women's health movement and scholarship about women in medicine: First, the publication of Our Bodies, OurselvesOur Bodies, Ourselves
Our Bodies, Ourselves is a book about women's health and sexuality produced by the nonprofit organization Our Bodies Ourselves...
in 1973 by the Boston Women's Health Collective, and second, "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Female Healers", a short paper by Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich
-Early life:Ehrenreich was born Barbara Alexander to Isabelle Oxley and Ben Howes Alexander in Butte, Montana, which she describes as then being "a bustling, brawling, blue collar mining town."...
and Deirdre English
Deirdre English
Deirdre English is the former editor of Mother Jones and author of numerous articles for national publications and television documentaries. Currently, she teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a faculty mentor at the Center for the Study of...
also in 1973. The Ehrenreich/English paper examined the history of women in medicine as the professionalization of the field excluded women, particularly midwives
Midwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
, from the practice. Ehrenreich and English later expanded the work into a full-length book, For Her Own Good, which connected the exclusion of women from the practice of medicine to sexist
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
medical practices; this text and Our Bodies, Ourselves
Our Bodies, Ourselves
Our Bodies, Ourselves is a book about women's health and sexuality produced by the nonprofit organization Our Bodies Ourselves...
became key texts in the women's health movement.
The English/Ehrenreich text laid out some early insights about the professionalization of medicine and the exclusion of women from the profession, and numerous scholars have greatly built upon and expanded this work. These scholars include:
- Diana Elizabeth Long, 1938- PhD 1966 Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Department of History of Science and Medicine; 1999-2006 (significant work as Project Scholar, "Literature and Medicine," Maine Humanities Council); pioneering research in medical indexing and gender with national and international acclaim; 1989 first director of University of Southern MaineUniversity of Southern MaineThe University of Southern Maine is a multi-campus public urban comprehensive university and part of the University of Maine System. USM's three primary campuses are located in Portland, Gorham, and Lewiston...
Women's Studies.
Breast cancer awareness
Breast cancer awareness
Breast cancer awareness is an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer and reduce the disease's stigma by educating people about its symptoms and treatment options...
campaigns are an outgrowth of the women's health movement.
See also
- American Medical Women's AssociationAmerican Medical Women's AssociationThe American Medical Women's Association is a professional advocacy and educational organization of women physicians and medical students. Founded in 1915 by Bertha VanHoosen, the AMWA works to advance women in medicine and to serve as a voice for women's health...
- History of medicineHistory of medicineAll human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods...
- Men in nursingMen in nursingNurses are traditionally and predominantly female; of the 2.1 million registered nurses in the United States, for example, only 5.4% are men. Men also make up only 13% of all new nursing students.-Historical perspective:...
- Women in the workforceWomen in the workforceUntil modern industrialized times, legal and cultural practices, combined with the inertia of longstanding religious and educational traditions, had restricted women's entry and participation in the workforce. Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the poor socio-economic status of women...
:Category:Midwives
Significant biographies
- Laurel Thatcher UlrichLaurel Thatcher UlrichLaurel Thatcher Ulrich , is a historian of early America and the history of women and a university professor at Harvard University...
, A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha BallardMartha BallardMartha Moore Ballard was an American midwife, healer, and diarist.Martha Ballard is known today from her diary, which gives us a rare insight to the life of the average midwife and woman in 18th century Maine. Born on February 20, 1735, Ballard grew up in a moderately prosperous family in Oxford,...
Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (1991)