---
title: "Women in medicine"
chunk: 6/11
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_medicine"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:03:52.958164+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Lovisa Årberg (1801–1881) was the first female doctor and surgeon in Sweden; whereas, Amalia Assur (1803–1889) was the first female dentist in Sweden and possibly Europe. Marie Durocher (1809–1893) was a Brazilian obstetrician, midwife and physician. She is considered the first female doctor in Brazil and the Americas. Ann Preston (1813–1872) was the first female to become the dean of a medical school [Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP)] in 1866. Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910), who was England-born, was the first woman to graduate from medical school in the United States. She obtained her MD in 1849 from Geneva College, New York City. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, (1831–1895) became the first African American female physician in the United States in 1864 upon being awarded her M.D. by New England Female Medical College in Boston. Lucy Hobbs Taylor (1833–1910) was the first female dentist in the United States. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836–1917) was a pioneering feminist in Britain who became the first female doctor in the United Kingdom in 1865 and a co-founder of London School of Medicine for Women. Madeleine Brès (1839–1925) was the first female medical doctor in France. Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912) was an English physician, feminist and teacher who was the first woman to practice medicine in Scotland in 1878. Sophia Bambridge (1841–1910) was the first female doctor in American Samoa. Frances Hoggan (1843–1927) became the first female doctor in Wales in 1870. She was also the first British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine (1870). Eliza Walker Dunbar (1845-1925) was the first woman in the UK to be appointed as a House Surgeon with responsibilities over male doctors (1874) and the first to receive a UK medical licence by examination (1877). Jennie Kidd Trout (1841–1921) was the first woman in Canada to become a licensed medical doctor in March 1875. Rosina Heikel (1842–1929) was a feminist and the first female physician in Finland (1878), as well as in the Nordic countries. Isala Van Diest (7 May 1842 – 6 February 1916) was the first female medical doctor and the first female university graduate in Belgium. Nadezhda Suslova (1843–1918), a graduate of Zurich University, was the first female doctor in Russia
Edith Pechey-Phipson (1845–1908) was a pioneering English doctor in India. She received her MD in 1877 from the University of Bern and Licentiate in Midwifery in 1877 at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. Mary Scharlieb (1845–1930) was a pioneer British female physician, as she was the first woman to be elected to the honorary visiting staff of a hospital in the United Kingdom. Vilma Hugonnai (1847–1922) was the first female doctor in Hungary. She studied medicine in Zürich and received her degree in 1879. However, she had to work as a midwife until 1897 when the Hungarian authorities finally accepted her degree. Hugonnai then started her own medical practice. Margaret Cleaves (1848–1917) was a pioneering doctor in brachytherapy who obtained her M.D. in 1873. She was the first female appointed to the University of Iowa Medical Department's examining committee in 1885. Anastasia Golovina, also known as Anastassya Nikolau Berladsky-Golovina, and Atanasya Golovina (1850–1933), was the first female doctor in Bulgaria. Ogino Ginko (1851–1913) was the first licensed and practicing female physician of Western medicine in Japan. Bohuslava Kecková (1854–1911), first Bohemian (Czech) woman to obtain a medical degree in 1880 from University of Zurich. Aletta Jacobs (1854–1929) was the first woman to complete a university course in the Netherlands and the first female doctor in the country. Hope Bridges Adams Lehmann (1855–1916) was the first female general practitioner and gynecologist in Munich, Germany. Grace Cadell (1855–1918) and Marion Gilchrist (1864–1952) were the first women to qualify as doctors in Scotland respectively in 1891 and 1894. Draga Ljočić-Milošević (1855–1926) was a feminist activist and the first female physician in Serbia. She graduated from Zurich University in 1879
Henriette Saloz-Joudra (1855–1928) successfully defended a doctoral thesis in cardiology at the University of Geneva in June 1883. Ana Galvis Hotz (1855–1934) was the first female doctor in Colombia. She was also the first Colombian woman (and first woman from Latin America) to obtain a medical degree. Constance Stone (1856–1902) was the first woman to practice medicine in Australia. Dolors Aleu i Riera (1857–1913) was the first female medical doctor in Spain when she started practicing medicine in 1879. Maria Cuțarida-Crătunescu (1857–1919) was the first female doctor in Romania. Lilian Welsh (1858–1938) was the first woman full professor at Goucher College. Sonia Belkind (1858–1943), who was Russian-born, was the first female doctor in Palestine. Isabel Cobb (1858–1947), who earned her M.D. in 1892, was Cherokee and the first woman physician in Indian territory. She was also an alumnus of Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Matilde Montoya (1859–1939) became the first female physician in Mexico in 1887. Kadambini Ganguly (1861–1923) was the first Indian woman to obtain a medical degree in India upon graduating from the Calcutta Medical College in 1886. Elsie Inglis (1864–1917), born in India, was a pioneering Scottish doctor and suffragist who obtained her MD at  Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women and worked at Rotunda Hospital, Dublin. Annie Lowrie Alexander (1864–1929) was the first licensed female physician in the Southern United States
Emily Charlotte Thomson (1864–1955) was one of the first women admitted to professional medical societies in Scotland and co-founded the Dundee Women's Hospital in 1896. Anandi Gopal Joshi (1865–1887), the first Indian woman to obtain a medical degree having graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1886. Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865–1915) was the first Native American woman to obtain a medical degree. Sofia Okunevska (1865–1926) was the first Ukrainian female doctor. Mary Josephine Hannan (1865–1935) was the first Irishwoman to graduate with the following credentials: LRCPI & SI and LM. Marie Spångberg Holth (1865–1942) was the first woman doctor in Norway after graduating in medicine from the Royal Frederiks University of Christiania in 1893. Anne Walter Fearn (1865–1938) practiced as a medical doctor in Shanghai, China, for almost 40 years. Eloísa Díaz (1866–1950) became the first female doctor in Chile upon graduating from the Universidad de Chile on 27 December 1886. She obtained her degree on 3 January 1887. Merbai Ardesir Vakil (1868–1941) was an Indian physician and the first Asian woman to graduate from a Scottish university. Eva Jellett (1868–1958), first woman to graduate from Trinity College Dublin with a medical degree in 1905. Bertha E. Reynolds (1868–1961) was among the first women licensed to practice medicine in Wisconsin (serving the rural communities of Lone Rock and Avoca). Emma K. Willits (1869–1965) was believed to be only the third woman to specialize in surgery and the first to head a Department of General Surgery at Children's Hospital in San Francisco, 1921–1934. Alice Hamilton (1869–1970) was an American physician, research scientist, and author who is best known as a leading expert in the field of occupational health and a pioneer in the field of industrial toxicology. She was also the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard University. Vera Gedroitz (1870–1932) was the first female professor of surgery in the world, as well as the first female military surgeon in Russia.