Who is Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell- 1st American Woman Physician
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Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell - First Woman Doctor in America
Elizabeth Blackwell said she turned to medicine after a close friend who was dying suggested she would have been spared her worst suffering if her physician had been a woman.
She supported medical education for women and helped many other women's careers. By establishing the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857, she offered a practical solution to one of the problems facing women who were rejected from internships elsewhere but were still determined to expand their skills as physicians.
Elizabeth Blackwell: The Early Years:
The Early Years:Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England in 1821. Both for financial reasons and because her father wanted to help abolish slavery, the family moved to America when Elizabeth was 11 years old. Her father died in 1838. As adults, his children campaigned for women's rights and supported the anti-slavery movement.
In her book, Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women, published in 1895, Dr. Blackwell wrote that she was initially repelled by the idea of studying medicine. She said she had "hated everything connected with the body, and could not bear the sight of a medical book... My favourite studies were history and metaphysics, and the very thought of dwelling on the physical structure of the body and its various ailments filled me with disgust."
Instead she went into teaching, then considered more suitable for a woman. Blackwell had no idea how to become a physician, so she consulted with several physicians known by her family. They told her it was a fine idea, but impossible; it was too expensive, and such education was not available to women. Yet Blackwell persisted, reasoning, that if the idea were a good one, there must be a way, and she was attracted by the challenge.
She convinced two physician friends to let her study medicine with them for a year, and applied to all the medical schools in New York and Philadelphia. She also applied to twelve more schools in the northeast states until, in 1847, she was finally accepted by Geneva Medical College in New York.
The faculty, assuming that the all-male student body would never agree to a woman joining their ranks, allowed them to vote on her admission. As a joke, they voted "yes," and she gained admittance, despite the reluctance of most students and faculty.
Two years later, in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive an M.D. degree from an American medical school.
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Learn More About Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell: First Woman Physician (Great Life Stories)
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Elizabeth Blackwell, First Women Physician in Modern Times, with Her Autograph Giclee Poster Print, 12x16
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Elizabeth Blackwell: Physician and Health Educator (Spirit of America, Our People)
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What do you think of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell ?
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Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell Videos
Your Thoughts On Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
JenOfChicago wrote...
Great lens, I've lensrolled you to my lens on Ada Lovelace http://www.squidoo.com/adalovelace
Posted May 19, 2009
TheWhistler wrote...
I remember grade 10 and that awful "Public Speaking" they put us all through. I selected Elizabeth Blackwell as my topic, so she is no stranger to me.
Thanks for the lens.
Posted October 29, 2008
Margo_Arrowsmith wrote...
Well, it is appropriate that her parents came to the US to fight slavery and ended up with the first woman who graduated from a medical school. That is how it always was. The women who fought against slavery decided they wanted to vote. The women who joined the civil rights movement more than a hundred years later decided they wanted some civil rights also.
Nice ***** lens
Posted October 29, 2008
Margo_Arrowsmith wrote...
Well, it is appropriate that her parents came to the US to fight slavery and ended up with the first woman who graduated from a medical school. That is how it always was. The women who fought against slavery decided they wanted to vote. The women who joined the civil rights movement more than a hundred years later decided they wanted some civil rights also.
Nice ***** lens
Posted October 29, 2008
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