Women have long faced discrimination, prejudice, and exclusion from formal medical training, despite having served as healers and midwives since antiquity. In ancient Egypt, Merit Ptah was recognized as the first known woman physician in about 2700 BCE. In Greece, owing to societal restrictions, women like Agnodice practiced medicine clandestinely, eventually leading to legal reforms allowing women to provide care to female patients. During the Middle Ages, women’s medical practice was largely confined to convents or informal community roles. St. Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century Benedictine abbess, made significant contributions to natural science and medicine through her extensive writings on herbs and healing practices. Between the 15^th and the 17^th century, women were not merely excluded but persecuted, demonized, and subjected to witch trials, tortured, drowned, hung, or burned at the stake.

The 19^th century marked a turning point with pioneers such as Elizabeth Blackwell,^1,2 the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States (1849), and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson³ becoming the first British woman in the United Kingdom to qualify as physician and surgeon. These early woman physicians often faced isolation, hostility, and discrimination. Many had to study abroad or create their own institutions. The Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, founded in 1850, became the first medical institution exclusively for women in the United States.

The early 20th century saw the gradual acceptance of women into medicine. At first, they were steered toward obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics rather than to general medicine or surgery. The World Wars created unprecedented opportunities for them as they served in field hospitals and maintained civilian healthcare systems, demonstrating competence and permanently altering perceptions about their capabilities in medicine. In time they played a crucial role in challenging gender biases, leading to their increased enrollment in medical schools.

The late 20^th century saw dramatic increases in women’s participation in every medical specialty. Dr. Frances Kelsey’s vigilance prevented the approval of thalidomide in the United States,⁴ Dr. Jane Cooke Wright pioneered cancer chemotherapy protocols, Dr. Helen Taussig laid the groundwork for modern cardiac surgery,⁵ Dr. Virginia Apgar revolutionized neonatal care with the Apgar score,⁶ Dr. Gerty Cori won a Nobel Prize for her work in carbohydrate metabolism,⁷ and Dr. Katalin Karikó played a crucial role in the development of mRNA vaccines in the fight against COVID-19.

Today, women are leaders in research, surgery, and primary care. They contribute to advances in every medical specialty, yet still face disparities in pay and leadership positions, as well as having to balance the demands of their careers with family responsibilities. Much has changed, however, since the days when chauvinist anatomy students would put male organs into female handbags, surgical lecturers would complain about women distracting them by knitting in the first row of the auditorium, or medical schools would accept no more than two female students in a class of 100 because if there was only one she would be lonely, but if there were more than two the school would have to build another locker room.

References

1. Elizabeth Coon and Eelco Wijdicks. “Book review: The Doctors Blackwell.” Hektoen International Summer 2012. https://hekint.org/2021/07/15/book-review-the-doctors-blackwell/
2. JMS Pearce. “Elizabeth Blackwell, MD.” Hektoen International Winter 2016. https://hekint.org/2017/01/29/elizabeth-blackwell-md/
3. JMS Pearce. “Elizabeth Garrett Anderson.” Hektoen International Fall 2021. https://hekint.org/2021/11/12/elizabeth-garrett-anderson/
4. Kevin Loughlin. “Frances Oldham Kelsey: A medical profile in courage.” Hektoen International Winter 2017. https://hekint.org/2017/03/24/frances-oldham-kelsey-a-medical-profile-in-courage/
5. Colin Phoon. “Helen Taussig: Founder and mother of pediatric cardiology.” Hektoen International Spring 2015. https://hekint.org/2017/01/27/helen-taussig-founder-and-mother-of-pediatric-cardiology/
6. Yasaswi Paruchuri. “Virginia Apgar: Our Jimmy.” Hektoen International Summer 2014. https://hekint.org/2017/01/28/virginia-apgar-our-jimmy/
7. George Dunea. “The Doctors Cori, Carbohydrate metabolism, and the Nobel prize.” Hektoen International Fall 2020. https://hekint.org/2020/10/05/the-doctors-cori-carbohydrate-metabolism-and-the-nobel-prize/
8. Plus several other articles in the Women in Medicine Section in Hektoen International about the achievements of women in medicine.