LEADING LADIES: WOMEN IN HEALTHCARE
Florence Nightingale would have been 203 years old today! Nightingale is most known for organising the treatment of sick and injured troops during the Crimean War. Her visionary ideas and reforms have had a profound impact on modern healthcare. Her biggest accomplishment was ensuring nursing was a respectable career for women and considered as such.
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, the week commencing the 12th of May is National Women’s Health week. There remains gender inequality in healthcare and wide gaps in research and treatments unique to women. Although women’s health is the least studied and under researched health sector, there are still millions of badass women who have revolutionised healthcare for all genders. And this weeks’ blog entry aims to showcase just a handful of them to you.
Elizabeth Blackwell
Originally from England, Elizabeth was a trailblazer for women in medicine. After graduating from New York's Geneva Medical College in January 1849, she broke down several obstacles to become the nation's first female doctor. She founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857 alongside her sister, Emily Blackwell and Dr Marie Zakrzewska, among other important accomplishments that stood in the face of medical misogyny.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
The first Black woman to receive a medical degree in the US. She overcame widespread discrimination against women and African Americans in medicine, making history as a real pioneer. She spent some time following the American Civil War, caring for former enslaved people. Dr. Crumpler's Book of Medical Discourses was released in 1883, detailing her professional experiences and advice on maternity and child health which went on to inform women’s health for decades.
Alice Evans
Microbiologist Alice Evans (1881-1975) discovered the bacteria responsible for undulant fever. This discovery, one of the most medically important in the early 20th century, led to laws mandating milk pasteurization, saving countless lives in America and throughout the world. Incredible!
Mary Guinan
It's difficult to pinpoint Mary Guinan’s greatest contribution to public health because she has made so many. She was one of the first to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic as well as working on the drive to eradicate smallpox in India.
Guinan has dedicated her entire career to pushing medical frontiers while overcoming the numerous obstacles that women typically face in a male-dominated industry.
The challenges she faced didn’t stop her from pushing boundaries or dampen her enthusiasm, as she’s still a fierce advocate for encouraging others to study epidemiology and make public health a priority. Guinan is a modern example of women following in the footsteps of historic healthcare heroes such as Blackwell and Nightingale.
Public health professional Robyn Correll states that ‘you don’t have to look only in the past to find women shattering glass ceilings.’ Some of the greatest achievements in female healthcare are happening as you read this, others are yet to come.
If you are a woman in healthcare. A doctor, nurse, carer, practitioner, psychiatrist, therapist, dentist, midwife or maybe you fill another incredible role, and are a cog in the large machine that is healthcare, we thank you. Breaking the bias and chipping away at misogynist outlooks in medicine has only propelled improvement and driven the movement forward. Isn’t it amazing what women can do?
Have a wonderful weekend and a happy National Women’s Health week lovelies!
Xoxo