Medical

Of all the disciplines discussed on this site, no other has experienced the ups and downs of women’s involvement as medicine has. The acceptance of women in medicine throughout history in an unofficial capacity should not be surprising. Afterall, for much of human history, women have been seen as the ‘caregivers’ and ‘nurses’ of our species. For women to practice in any professional or official capacity however has been an incredible uphill battle. This lack of acceptance is particularly surprising given the numbers of women who were practicing medicine from ancient times through to the scientific revolution.

Women within healthcare were commonplace throughout much of human history and often took on unofficial roles such as ‘healer’ and ‘midwife’ within a community. Unfortunately, many people over time made biased links between healing and witchcraft, and many women in previous centuries met brutal and untimely ends due to their knowledge of natural remedies; knowledge that was often passed onto them through oral history and instruction through a matriarch.  

In the modern era, women are still heavily biased against within medicine. Whilst the barriers to learner and professionalism may have eroded away, we are still inundated with statistics such as maternal death rates, misdiagnosis of female conditions and lack of understanding of menopause that shows that the medical discipline still has a long way to go towards equality.

the ancient world

Peseshet (c.2500C) Ancient Egyptian Physician

Agamede (c.1200BC) Ancient Greek Physician

Agnodice (c.400BC) Ancient Greek Physician, Midwife and Gynaecologist 

Chunyu Yan (c.1st Century BC) Chinese Gynaecologist

Metrodora (c.300AD) Ancient Greek Physician

Aemilia Hilaria (c.300 - 363AD) Gallo-Roman Physician

Aspasia the Physician (c.400AD) Greek Midwife and gynaecologist

Bao Gu (fl.4th Century AD) Chinese Physician

the middle ages

Rufaida Al-Aslamia (c.620AD) Arab Nurse

Anna Komnena (1083 – 1153) Byzantine (Turkish) Physician

Adelle of the Saracen (c.12th Century) Italian Physician and teacher

Dobrodeia of Kyiv (1108 – 1131) Byzantine Author

Trota di Ruggiero (c.12th-13th Century) A group of female physicians and writers

Magistra Hersend (c.1249 – 1259) French Surgeon and royal physician

Abella of Salerno (c.14th Century) Italian Physician and teacher

Adelmota of Carrara (c.14th Century) Italian Physician

Mercuriade (c.14th Century) Italian Surgeon and medical author

Rebecca de Guarna (c.14th Century) Italian Surgeon

Alessandra Giliani (c.1307 – 1326) Italian Pathologist

Jacobina Félice de Almania (fl.1322) Italian Physician

Dorotea Bucca (1360 – 1436) Italian Physician; Chair of Medicine at the University of Bologna

Peretta Peronne (fl.1411) - French Surgeon

Constance Calenda (c.1415) Italian Eye Surgeon

Tan Yunxian (1461 – 1554) Chinese Physician

Jang-Geum (c1474 - c.1550) Korean Physician

Guillemette du Luys (fl.1479) French Surgeon

Clarice di Durisio (c.15th Century) Italian Physician

16th-17th century

Agatha Streicher (1520 – 1581) German Physician

Louise Bourgeois Boursier (1563 – 1636) French Midwife

Elinor Sneshell (c.1593) English Barber Surgeon

Justine Siegemund (1636 – 1705) German Midwife

Jane Sharp (fl.1671) English Midwife

18th century

Dorothea Erxleben (1715 – 1762) German 1st female doctor in Germany

Anna Morandi Manzolini (1716 – 1774) Italian Anatomist

Marie Marguerite Bihéron (1719 – 1795) French Anatomist and illustrator

Maria Petraccini (1759 – 1791) Italian Anatomist and physician

Maria Medina Coeli (1764 – 1846) Italian Physician and Inventor

Marie-Louise Lachapelle (1769 – 1821) French Midwife

Marie Boivin (1773 – 1841) French Midwife and Inventor

Maria Dalle Donne (1778 – 1842) Italian Physician and Director of the University of Bologna

Maria Jansson (Kisamor) (1788 – 1842) Swedish Natural Doctor

19th century (1800-1849)

Lovisa Åhrberg (1801 – 1881) Swedish Surgeon

Amalia Assur (1803 – 1889) Swedish Dentist 

Marie Josefina Mathilde Durocher (1809 – 1893) Brazilian Obstetrician

Florence Nightingale (1820 – 1910) English Statistician and Founder of Modern Nursing

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821 – 1910) British-American Physician

Emily Blackwell (1826 – 1910) American Physician

Maria Elizabeth Zakrzewska (1829 – 1902) German Physician 

Mary Walker (1832 – 1919) American Surgeon

Lucy Hobbs Taylor (1833 – 1910) American Dentist 

Emmy Rappe (1835 – 1896) Swedish Nurse 

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836 – 1917) English Physician

Johanna Heden (1837 – 1912) Swedish Midwife and Barber Surgeon

Sophia Jex-Blake (1840 – 1912) English Physician

Rosalie Fougelberg (1841 – 1911) Swedish Dentist 

Mary Putnam Jacobi (1842 – 1906) American Physician

Isala Van Diest (1842 – 1916) Belgian Physician

Varvara Kashevarova Rudneva (1844 – 1899) Russian Physician 

19th century (1850-1899)

Letitia Geer (1852 – 1935) American Nurse and Inventor of the Modern Syringe

Clara Southmayd Ludlow (1852 – 1924) American Medical Entomologist

Karolina Widerström (1856 – 1949) Swedish Physician 

Lydia Maria Adams DeWitt (1859 – 1928) American Pathologist 

Hedda Andersson (1861 – 1950) Swedish Physician

Anna Stecksen (1870 – 1904) Swedish Physician and pathologist

Louisa Martindale (1872 – 1966) English Physician and Surgeon

Sara Josephine Baker (1873 – 1945) American Physician

Eleanor Davies-Colley (1874 – 1934) English Surgeon 

Ninni Kronberg (1874 – 1946) Swedish Physiologist and Nutritionist

Helen Mayo (1878 – 1967) Australian Medical Doctor and Educator

Maud Menten (1879 – 1960) Canadian Physician

Lucy Wills (1888 – 1964) English Haematologist

Frieda Robscheit-Robbins (1893 – 1973) German-American Pathologist 

Helen S. Mitchell (1895 – 1984) American Nutritionist 

Hazel K. Stiebeling (1896 – 1989) American Nutritionist

Ana Aslan (1897 – 1988) Romanian Physician and biologist

Anna Baetjer (1899 – 1984) American Physiologist and Toxicologist

Jean Macnamara (1899 – 1968) Australian Doctor 

Mildred Trotter (1899 - 1991) - American Forensic Anthropologist

20th century - present

Dorothy Hansine Andersen (1901 – 1963) American Identifier of cystic fibrosis

Edith Bülbring  (1903 – 1990) British Pharmacologist 

Alice Stewart (1906 – 2002) British Physician and epidemiologist

Elsie Widdowson (1906 – 2000) British Dietitian 

Gwendolyn Wilson Fowler (1907 – 1997) American Pharmacist

Virginia Apgar (1909 – 1974) American Obstetrical anaesthesiologist

Kamal Ranadive (1917 – 2001) Indian Biomedical scientist

Irene Ayako Uchida (1917 – 2013) Canadian Down Syndrome Researcher

Brenda Milner (1918 - ) Canadian Neuropsychologist 

Ruth Sanger (1918 – 2001) Australian Haematologist

Sheila Sherlock (1918 – 2001) British Physician

Dorothy Lavinia Brown (1919 – 2004) American Surgeon 

Jane C. Wright (1919 – 2013) American Cancer researcher

Helen Muir (1920 – 2005) British Rheumatologist 

Louise Reiss (1920 – 2011) American Physician

Marian Koshland (1921 – 1997) American Immunologist

Beatrice Mintz (1921 – 2022) American Embryologist 

Brigitte Askonas (1923 – 2013) British Immunologist 

Marthe Gautier (1925 – 2022) French Role in the Discovery of Down Syndrome 

Claire Fagin (1926 - ) American Nurse

Mathilde Krim (1926 – 2018) Italian AIDs Researcher

Elizabeth Warrington (1931 -) British Neuropsychologist 

Mina Bissell (1940 -) Iranian-American Breast Cancer Researcher

Bernadine Healy (1944 – 2011) American Physician

Elizabeth Anionwu (1947 -) British Nurse

Margaret Chan (1947 -) Hong Kong Born Director General of WHO (2007-2017)

Phyllis Starkey (1947 -) British Biomedical researcher

Rivka Carmi (1948 -) Israeli Paediatrician and geneticist

Sally Davies (1949 -) British Chief Medical Officer for England 2010-2019

Nitza Margarita Cintrón (1950 -) Puerto-Rican NASA Chief of Space Medicine

Anne Mills (1951 -) British Health economist

Adriana Albini (1955 -) Italian Pathologist 

Nancy Rothwell (1955 -) British Pathologist 

Karen Vousden (1957 -) British Medical researcher 

Margaret Ogola (1958 – 2011) Kenyan Paediatrician and author

Fiona Wood (1958 -) British-Australian Plastic surgeon

Sania Nishtar (1963 -) Pakistani Physician,

Jeong Eun-kyeong (1965 -) South Korean Public Health expert

Hayat Sindi (1967 -) Saudi Medical researcher 

Julie Makani (1970 -) Tanzanian Biomedical researcher

Anita Goel (1973 -) American Physician

Marjolein Kriek (1973 -) Dutch Clinical Geneticist

Dilek Gürsoy (1976 -) German Heart Surgeon

Jessica Meir (1977 -) – American Marine biologist and astronaut

Aye Nyein Thu (1995 -) Burmese Doctor