WOMEN IN MEDICINE
Breaking the Glass: A Historical Review of Women in Medicine By By Cara Cara J.J. Schachter Schachter and and Allison Allison Foster Foster
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he first medical college in the United States was founded in 1765, yet women would not be allowed to join the ranks of their male colleagues until nearly a century later. Throughout the early years of medical education, it was expressly understood that women were not only intellectually inferior to men, but their designated role in society was exclusively within the domestic sphere. Women who engaged in medical pursuits prior to the women’s health revolution faced discrimination by employers and patients alike. Despite this, several pioneers emerged to challenge the social constructs stacked against women in medicine. Of note, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate from an American medical school, Geneva Medical College, in 1849. Ann Preston established the first allwomen medical board after being barred from training in clinics by the men of the Philadelphia Medical Society. Both women persevered throughout the entirety of their careers to pave the way for generations of female physicians to enter the medical field. They overcame oppression and discrimination from their first medical school application to their very last patient. These two women, along with countless others throughout history, are responsible for many of the rights women in medicine are granted today. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female to be admitted to an American medical college in 1847. Like many women who came before, her success was preceded by countless failures and rejections. Prior to her admission to Geneva Medical College, Blackwell was rejected more than ten times on the basis of presumed intellectual inferiority, as well as the daunting possibility that she could potentially be successful if 18
SAN ANTONIO MEDICINE • November 2021
given the opportunity to attend. The men in charge of medical education viewed Blackwell as a threat to the careful lines drawn between the male and female spheres of society. Her eventual admission almost wasn’t approved; the men of Geneva Medical College voted unanimously to admit her, believing her admission to be a prank. Blackwell was successful throughout medical school and graduated in 1849, but subsequently Elizabeth Blackwell struggled to find work. Hospitals did not acknowledge her degree or permit her additional training under their physicians. Despite this resistance, she would go on to found the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children in 1857 and the College of New York Infirmary in 1867. After organizing several female medical efforts during the Civil War, Blackwell returned to England and established the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874 before officially retiring from medicine in 1877. Ann Preston was the only surviving daughter of a large Quaker family settled on the outskirts of Philadelphia. After receiving a modest education, Preston developed an initial interest in pursuing medicine
