Title: Elizabeth - Blackwell
1Elizabeth - Blackwell
- First Lady of Medical Doctorates
- By Amelia Brown
2In the Beginning
- Born in England in 1821, Elizabeth Blackwell
moved to America as a young child. - She was educated decently and worked as a
teacher. - Finding this work unpleasant and uninspiring
she - desired another career!
3A new career?
- A sickly friend suggested she study to become a
doctor because she thought that she would have
been more comforted in her ill state with a
female doctor - -This interested Elizabeth and she decided to
pursue it against all odds - -What odds they were! She lacked the funds to pay
for medical school, she needed a better basis of
classical languages and scientific studies, and
she required experience in the medical field.
4Another step on the way to medical school
- It so happened that all her needs were met in one
man and his house - She lived in a physician's household, where she
received some medical training, the use of a
medical library, and the opportunity to study
Greek and Latin - This was Elizabeths chance to conquer her goal,
and there was only one last step - Now she needed to secure a position in a medical
school! Can she do it?
5Geneva Medical College
- After applying to many of the top institutions
and colleges, she finally got one positive answer
in a stack of negative ones - This acceptance came from none other than the
quaint Geneva Medical School in Geneva New York - Geneva Medical College was one of the many
small, short-lived medical schools that
flourished in 19th-century America. Founded in
1835 in a small town at the foot of Seneca Lake
in western New York State, by 1847 it had seven
faculty members, a student body of about 150, and
a new college building. To graduate, students
took two 16-week courses of lectures, submitted a
thesis, and took an oral exam. Nearly all the
students came from the surrounding counties.
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7The New GirlThe New Girl
- In 1847 Elizabeth arrived at the Geneva medical
School with a greeting neither impolite nor warm - Upon reception, the school immediately opposed
her application but later reconsidered and let
the student body vote. The vote was unanimous in
her favor! But all the young men who voted for
her did it in mocking! ? - -"I had not the slightest idea of the commotion
created by my appearance as a medical student in
the little town. Very slowly I perceived that a
doctor's wife at the table avoided any
communication with me, and that as I walked
backwards and forwards to college the ladies
stopped to stare at me, as at a curious animal. I
afterwards found that I had so shocked Geneva
propriety that the theory was fully established
either that I was a bad woman, whose designs
would gradually become evident, or that, being
insane, an outbreak of insanity would soon be
apparent."
8- The townspeople thought she was crazy and women
were shocked and appalled that a lady would want
to participate in surgeries or dissections not
crocheting or primping - Elizabeth was made fun of continually and was
made to feel out of place - She was advised to excuse herself from her
anatomy class when reproduction was the topic
since her presence might embarrass the male
students or the professor!
9The Outcast is Accepted
- Elizabeths perseverance and strength carried
her through and she finally was accepted by all
and regarded as an eager and serious student and
a perfect lady to boot!
10- "November 22.--A trying day, and I feel almost
worn out, though it was encouraging too, and in
some measure a triumph but 'tis a terrible
ordeal! That dissection was just as much as I
could bear. Some of the students blushed, some
were hysterical, not one could keep in a smile
... My delicacy was certainly shocked, and yet
the exhibition was in some sense ludicrous. I had
to pinch my hand till the blood nearly came ...
Dr. Webster, who had perhaps the most trying
position, behaved admirably." (Diary, Nov. 22,
1847)
11- During break between her sessions at the Geneva
Medical School, she worked at The Blockley
Almshouse in Philadelphia - She was rejected here, socially, by all the male
physicians, but continued to see many severely
ill patients and treat their ailments which were
usually forms of typhus - With this experience behind her, she developed
her thesis, which was published in the Buffalo
Medical Journal
12Elizabeth Graduates first in her class
13Life after School.
- 1852 she published The Laws of Life, with Special
Reference to the Physical Education of Girls, in
1878, Counsel to parents on the Moral Education
of Their Children, and in 1884, The Human
Element in Sex among over 15 other pamphlets and
books - In1853 she opened a dispensary in NYC
- She founded the New York Infirmary for Women and
Children in 1857 - To continue the tradition she started, she
established the Womans Medical College of the
New York Infirmary in 1868!
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15A Medical Pioneer
- Elizabeth Blackwell was an incredible figure who
fought her way to the top and followed through
with her goal - She has inspired the million of females in the
medical field in the past, present, and future
16Bibliography
-Shearer, Benjamin F., Shearer, Barbara S.
Notable Women in the life Sciences. London
Greenwood Press, 1996. 31-36. -"Celebrating 150
Years of Women in Medicine The Legacy of
Elizabeth Blackwell." State University of New
York Upstate Medical University Alumni Journal.
19 November 20, 2003. -Ph.D., M.L.S., Eric v.
d. Luft. This is an online version of an exhibit
held at the National Library of Medicine,
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
National Library of Medicine. 18 November 2003
http//www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/blackwell/college_life.
html