---
title: "Women in medicine"
chunk: 10/11
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"
---

Widad Kidanemariam (1935–1988) became the first female doctor in Ethiopia during the 1960s. Xhanfize (Frashëri) Basha returned to Albania to become the country's first female doctor upon completing her studies at the University of Philadelphia in 1937. Edna Adan Ismail (born 1937) became Somaliland's first nurse midwife during the 1950s upon completing her training at the then-named Borough Polytechnic in the United Kingdom. Hajah Habibah Haji Mohd Hussain (born 1937) was among the first women in Brunei to work as a nurse after finishing nursing school in 1955. Marguerite Issembe became the first midwife in Gabon in 1940. Ulai Otobed (born 1941) from Palau became the first female doctor in Micronesia. In 2020, Lara Reklai became the first Palauan female to complete her medical studies in Cuba. María Herminia Yelsi and Digna Maldonado de Candía became the first female professional nurses in Paraguay in 1941. Barbara Ross-Lee (born 1942) was the first African American female dean of a U.S. medical school (1993) (Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine). Kek Galabru (born 1942) became the first female doctor in Cambodia upon obtaining her medical degree in France in 1968. Choua Thao (born 1943), at the age of 14, was one of two Hmong girls recruited to receive nursing training around the time of the Secret War in Laos. Dalva Maria Carvalho Mendes (born 1956), Brazilian doctor and soldier; first woman to be made a rear admiral in the Brazilian Navy
Nancy Dickey (born 1950) was the first female president of the American Medical Association. Rosa Mari Mandicó (born 1951) became the first qualified female nurse in Andorra in 1971. In 1991, Concepció Álvarez Martínez, Isabel Navarro Gilabert, Dominica Ramond Punsola, Montserrat Rue Capella, Pilar Serrano Gascón, Purificación Valverde Hernández  and Maria Líria Viñolas Blasco were the first nurse graduates in Andorra. Nancy C. Andrews (born 1958), first female dean of a top-ten medical school in the United States (2007), Duke University School of Medicine. Alganesh Haregot and Alganesh Adhanom were among the first women to graduate from a formal nursing school in Eritrea in 1959. Ramlati Ali (born 1961) became the first female doctor in Mayotte in 1996. Anniest Hamilton, the first female doctor in Turks and Caicos Islands, began her healthcare career sometime during the 1960s. Under the tutelage of matron Daw Dem, Pem Choden, Nim Dem, Choni Zangmo, Gyem, Namgay Dem and Tsendra Pem became the first nurses in Bhutan in 1962. Clara Raquel Epstein (born 1963), first Mexican-American woman U.S. trained and U.S. board certified in neurological surgery and youngest recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Neurosurgery. Viopapa Annandale-Atherton is the first Samoan woman to become a doctor upon graduating from New Zealand's University of Otago in 1964. She later returned to Samoa in 1993 and started a medical practice. Cora LeEthel Christian became the first female doctor in the United States Virgin Islands upon completing her medical education in the early 1970s. Madeline Nyamwanza-Makonese (b. unknown, mid-20th century) was the first female doctor in Zimbabwe. She was the second African woman to become a doctor and the first African woman to graduate from the University of Rhodesia Medical School in 1970. Rehana Kausar (b. mid-20th century) became the first woman doctor from Azad Kashmir to graduate from Medical School in Pakistan in 1971. Elwyn Chomba became the first female doctor in Zambia in 1973. In 1999, Jacqueline Mulundika-Mulwanda became Zambia's first female surgeon. N'Guessan Affoué Christine from Ivory Coast is the first midwife advisor of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). She retired from the profession in 2016 after having worked in the field since 1976. Zoe Gardner becomes the first woman in 1976 to overwinter with the Australian Antarctic Program as a medical officer on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. Margaret Allen (born 1948) became the first female heart transplant surgeon in the United States after having performed a transplant performed in 1985
Desiree Cox became the first (female) Rhodes Scholar from the Bahamas in 1987. She became a medical doctor upon earning her MBBS at the University of Oxford in 1992. Marlene Toma became the first Saint Martin woman to graduate in midwifery in 1990. Kinneh Sogur was the first home-trained female medical doctor to graduate from the University of the Gambia (UTG) in 2007. The medical school was the first one to be established in the country in 1999. Margeret 'Molly' Brown (died 2008) was the first female doctor in the Cayman Islands
Esther Apuahe became the first female surgeon in Papua New Guinea in 2011. Naomi Kori Pomat (died 2021) was the first female doctor in Papua New Guinea's Western Province. ʻAmelia Afuhaʻamango Tuʻipulotu became the first Tongan (female) to receive a Nursing PhD in 2012. Neti Tamarua Herman became the first Cook Islands (female) nurse to earn a doctorate degree in 2015. Alice Niragire was the first Rwandan female to graduate with a master's degree in surgery in 2015 since the course was introduced in 2006. In 2018, Claire Karekezi returned to Rwanda to become the country's first female neurosurgeon. Natalie Joyce Brewley (died 2016) was the first female doctor in the British Virgin Islands. Stacy Rhymer is considered the first female doctor in the British Virgin Islands' Virgin Gorda. Jin Cody became the first (female) certified nurse-midwife in the Northern Mariana Islands in 2017. Elisa Gaspar becomes the first female to lead the Medical Association of Angola (ORMED) in 2019. George Tarer was the first midwife to graduate in Guadeloupe. Olivia Torres Cruz is the first Chamorro female doctor in Guam. Errolyn Tungu is the first female obstetrician-gynaecologist in Vanuatu. Rebecca Edwards became the first Falkland Islander woman to become a doctor after completing her medical training at the University College London. Sergelen Orgoi developed low-cost liver transplantation for developing countries. Adama Saidou is the first female surgeon in Niger, as well as the first woman to lead a surgical department.