Female Physicians Break Barriers to Success!
Women Changing Medicine
Whether it’s, “No, you shouldn’t,” or, “No, it’s not possible,” many female physicians have been told “no” at some point in their career. Here, three Northwestern Medicine physicians discuss their experiences in the field and hopes for the future for women in medicine.
Past: Paving the Way
In a time when certain racial and gender groups couldn’t vote, Mary Harris Thompson, MD, forged her way where no woman had gone before. In 1870, Dr. Thompson was Northwestern University’s first female medical school graduate. She founded the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children, and became the first woman surgeon in Chicago and one of the most famous surgeons — male or female — in the country at the time. She was also named professor of Hygiene and Clinical Obstetrics and Diseases of Women at the Woman’s Hospital Medical College, which would later become affiliated with Northwestern University.
“ Dream big. Don’t let anyone put out your fire. ”