Medical Education for Women During the Nineteenth Century
Overview
Elizabeth Blackwell, who earned a medical degree in 1849, was a pioneer in the struggle to open the medical profession to women. Because almost all nineteenth century medical schools admitted only male students, women physicians established several separate medical schools, including the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, which began preparatory classes in 1848. Although most of the women's medical colleges were short-lived, their establishment was instrumental in helping women gain access to medical education and to subsequent careers in the medical profession.
Background
In 1849 Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) earned a place in history when she became the first woman in the United States to earn a medical degree. Blackwell was a pioneer in the very difficult battle to open the medical profession to women. During this time period, the United States was going through great social changes. Social reformers agitated for the abolition of slavery, the rights of women, and for new approaches to health and healing. Although women had served as healers and midwives in America since the Colonial era, they had been excluded from formal medical training. The women's rights movement encouraged women to educate themselves about health and hygiene, to enter the professions, and to dispel the widespread belief that women were naturally sickly and frail.
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