Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first English woman to become a qualified surgeon in Great Britain and the first female dean of a medical school. Encouraged to be independent as a child and well-educated, Elizabeth was inspired by female doctor Elizabeth Blackwell and decided to enter the medical field herself. The road was a hard one, and she started out as a surgery nurse to gain experience and the trust of the doctors. She was not allowed to attend medical school and instead studied privately while still working as nurse. Despite being forbidden to officially attend school and being voted out of classes by male classmates, Elizabeth was able to pass the exam to obtain a license from the Society of Apothecaries with high marks, to which the Society replied by changing the rules to disallow future women to be licensed. Unable to find work at a hospital, Elizabeth opened her own practice and started a dispensary to provide outpatient care to poor women. Patients soon forgot their uncertainty at the idea of a female physician under her excellent care, and Elizabeth was able to help many during an outbreak of cholera. Prejudice was chipped a way a little bit at a time, and she was finally able to obtain her medical degree (from France though), and she became the first woman in Britain to be assigned a medical post when she was sent to the East London Hospital for Children. In the medical community, she refuted the old idea that education was bad for women because it used up the energy they should be exerting toward having children and promoting more logical and understanding approaches to women’s health. To smooth the path for the women that came behind her, Elizabeth also co-founded a medical school for women. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson not only helped heal and comfort her many patients throughout her career, but also she broke down barriers for women in the medical field, encouraged accurate thinking about women’s health, and even supported the women’s suffrage movement in England.
Today, be inspired to…Break down a few barriers today in your own life.
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She Made A Difference 