Sharon Kirsh - Fabulous Female Physicians

FABULOUS FEMALE PHYSICIANS

THE WOMENS HALL OF FAME SERIES

by
SHARON KIRSH
with
FLORENCE KIRSH

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA

Kirsh, Sharon L. (Sharon Louise)
Fabulous female physicians

(The womens hall of fame series)
Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1-896764-43-6

1. Women physicians--Biography--Juvenile literature.
I. Kirsh, Florence II. Title. III. Series: Womens hall of fame series.

R692.K57 2001 j610.922 C2001-902329-4

Copyright 2001 by Sharon Kirsh
First published in the USA 2002

Edited by Charis Wahl
Cover design by Stephanie Martin
Text design by Laura McCurdy
Photo edit by Vivian Harrower

Printed and bound in Canada

Second Story Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program.

Published by
SECOND STORY PRESS
720 Bathurst Street, Suite 301
Toronto, ON
M5S 2R4
www.secondstorypress.on.ca

ACCORDING TO LEGEND, 2300 years ago a girl named Agnodice was born into a wealthy family in Athens, Greece. When she grew up, she decided to become a doctor. There was just one problem with her plan Athenian women were forbidden to practice medicine, and could be executed if they disobeyed. So Agnodice left to study medicine in nearby Egypt, where women played an important role in the medical community. When she returned to Athens, she disguised herself as a man and began to treat patients.

Soon Agnodice saw that many women died of disease or during childbirth because they were embarrassed to be seen by a male doctor. She felt that she could no longer pretend, and confessed her secret to a woman who needed medical attention. The woman allowed Agnodice to treat her and was soon well again. Before long, many other women in Athens heard about the woman doctor disguised as a man, and they flocked to her for cures.

Then one day Agnodices secret was discovered by some other doctors, who were quick to report her. During the trial a large group of her patients stormed into the court and demanded that the judges hear them. They explained that if Agnodice were sentenced to death, then they would consider the men in the room to be their enemies. Some of the women even threatened to kill themselves if Agnodice died. The judges were shocked and frightened the women were serious! Not only was Agnodice released, but the law was also changed. From then on, an Athenian woman could be a doctor as long as she treated only female patients.

Many people do not realize that women have been taking care of the sick for thousands of years. Throughout history women tried to figure out how the body works and what causes disease, and they concocted remedies from plants called herbs. Many were midwives, looking after pregnant women and helping them to deliver their babies. However, women were not usually welcomed as physicians. Agnodice won her fight, but other womens stories did not have a happy ending.

Jacqueline Felicie De Almania, known as Jacoba, lived in France almost 700 years ago. She practiced medicine in Paris without formal training, because only men could attend medical school at the time. In 1322 she was put on trial for practicing medicine because she was a woman. Several of her patients told the court about her great skills. The women claimed they would never have gone to a male doctor, and the men said that she was as skilled as any male physician. But the judges found Jacoba guilty and she was never allowed to practice again.

Nearly a millennium ago, a few women were able to make an impact on the medical world, however. For example, about 200 years before Jacobas time a girl named Trotula was born into a noble family in Salerno, Italy. The medical school in that town was the best in Europe, and the only one to admit women. Trotula studied medicine and then taught at the school. She married a doctor and they had two sons who also became doctors. Together, the family wrote a medical encyclopedia.

Trotula was ahead of her time in her understanding of the human body and human emotions. She promoted a healthy diet, cleanliness and relaxation. Before she performed drastic surgery on a patient, she would try herbs and oils as a remedy. She also recommended that physicians approach their patients with gentleness and optimism. One of her most famous books is called The Diseases of Women. Male doctors used it for centuries to help them understand their female patients.

The practice of medicine has changed over time, and a great deal of progress has been made. For example, until about 100 years ago, most remedies were not very effective. Before 1940, there was no penicillin to cure infections caused by bacteria, and most babies born with a serious problem died soon after birth. Also, most aspiring female physicians had to go to special schools for women only, if they were permitted to study medicine at all.

The ten women you will meet in this book graduated from medical school. Even though they were born at different times and in different places, as you read about their lives you will see that they have much in common. They decided when they were quite young that they wanted to be some kind of doctor, and they worked very hard in high school and in medical school to become one. None was afraid to be thought odd or unladylike in her interests or ambitions. They were willing to make enormous sacrifices in order to reach their goals, and all of them bounced back from hardships.

Most cultures have at one time or another taught women that their place is in the home, that they are not smart enough to be physicians, and that it is not proper for women to examine men. There has also been discrimination based upon race or class. But the women in this book broke the rules. Each is a first the first to do something no woman had done before in the field of medicine. They also worked to smooth the path for the women who would follow them. Many became involved in struggles with their government or with their university to change the laws and rules that held back women and other groups.

In many countries today, women are accepted into medical schools based on their merit as future physicians. This does not mean that all barriers have been removed. Certain types of medical practice are still considered better for men than for women for example, there are few female surgeons. But times are changing, and sometime soon people might well wonder why a book was written about fabulous female physicians, because the world will be filled with them.