Dr Elizabeth Blackwell
The first woman in America to receive a medical degree, Elizabeth Blackwell championed the participation of women in the medical profession and ultimately opened her own medical college for women.
Category Archives: Science > Medicine
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Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Dix was an early 19th century activist who drastically changed the medical field during her lifetime. She championed causes for both the mentally ill and indigenous populations. By doing this work, she openly challenged 19th century notions of reform and illness. Additionally, Dix helped recruit nurses for the Union army during the Civil War. As a result, she transformed the field of nursing.
Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture
Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture traveled far and wide to become a registered nurse. Her determination paid off, and she was the first Native Canadian registered nurse. It was illegal for Native Canadians to get a diploma after elementary school, so Monture had to move to the United States for nursing training. Monture found a way to receive an education and served as an Army nurse during the first World War. She is also reported to be the first Native Canadian woman to receive the right to vote in a Canadian federal election.
Margaret Cochran Corbin
A hero of the American Revolution, Margaret Cochran Corbin was the first woman to receive a military pension.
Aileen Cole Stewart
The same year the United States entered the first World War, Aileen Cole Stewart passed her exams to be a nurse in Maryland and Washington, DC. Her dedication and courage helped her climb the ranks to become one of the first African American women to serve in the Army Nursing Corps. She helped establish a field hospital in Cascade, West Virginia. Stewart was also certified by the American Red Cross and served with 17 other African American nurses during the influenza epidemic of 1918.
Dr Patricia Era Bath
Cataract surgery pioneer Patricia Bath was the first African-American to complete a residency in ophthalmology, after obtaining her MD at Howard University and her fellowship in ophthalmology at Columbia University.
Dr Teodora Krajewska
Dr Teodora Krajewska was a physician, writer and teacher who was one of the first women to practice medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria-Hungary.
Divna Veković
Divna Veković was the first female medical doctor in Montenegro. In addition to serving as a physician during World War I, she continued her work as a medical doctor until her death prior the end of World War II. Veković was also a humanitarian and a literary translator who was the first to translate the well-known Montenegrin poem and play The Mountain Wreath (also known as The Mountain of Wreath) from Serbian into French. Veković also translated other poems such as the work of the Serbian poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj.
Anastasia Golovina
Anastasia Golovina was Bulgaria’s first woman doctor, earning her doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1878.
Tebello Nyokong
South African chemist and professor Tebello Nyokong is helping to pioneer a safer method of cancer detection and photodynamic therapy, a treatment without the harmful side effects of chemotherapy.