The Early Days of Women Doctors

What was the likelihood of a woman entering the medical profession back in the days of corsets and Merry Widow hats?

My latest historical novel The Beauty Doctor (#10 Kindle bestseller, Historical Mysteries, as of Jan. 9) is the story of a young Edwardian-era woman whose dream of becoming a doctor serving New York City’s poor entangles her in a terrifying web of intrigue. But that was 1907. Let’s go back a bit further to trace the history of women in medicine.

In the mid-1800s, the term “female physician” was not by any means a professional title. It was used—and not in a complimentary way—to refer to untrained female abortionists. In fact, the only women in the medical field were self-taught practitioners. 

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. Fifty years later, by 1900, about 7000 women had broken the traditional barrier against females in medicine. By that time, in addition to the all-women medical schools there were a number of coeducational medical colleges at which women made up about 10% of the students. In some large cities, women might represent more than 15% of physicians.

Not that it was easy for women doctors. Read what was written—perhaps far too optimistically in light of what was soon to come—in the 1911 yearbook of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania:

The militant spirit of the Association has not confined its efforts to our own school. Many hospitals have opened their doors to our graduates as interns through the indefatigable work of the Committee on Hospital Appointments. Some boards are still obdurate, objecting to women as such, because they have not yet learned better. A trustee of one hospital expressed himself as having no use for long-haired men or short-haired women. His objection surely does not hold now, for all in his category have disappeared from our College halls.

As you can gather, even women with comparable education to men often faced challenges in practice. The public generally was not ready to accept women physicians as equal to their male counterparts. Still, in the earliest years of the 20th century women seemed to be gaining in their struggle to establish themselves firmly within the ranks of the profession.

Then along came the Flexner Report of 1910. This report, commissioned by the Carnegie Foundation, found that the quality of medical education across the country was inconsistent and, overall, horribly inadequate. A great many medical schools were little more than diploma mills, said Abraham Flexner. It was therefore recommended that the number of medical schools nationwide be drastically reduced—from 155 to 31. Flexner argued that ultimately this would increase the quality of medical care. The unfortunate result, over time, was the reversion of American universities to male-only admissions. Opportunities for women to study medicine diminished to virtually nothing. The number of women physicians declined precipitously, not to rise again until the 1960s—a terrible set-back but fortunately not a permanent one.

Today, women represent more than 37% of practicing physicians in the United States, and their numbers are set to rise; in England the figure is 48% and in Scotland, 53%. What country has the highest percentage of female doctors? According to one online source, it is Bosnia & Herzegovina, at 88%. However, in the US, the gender cap in physician pay remains significant.

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Read my historical mystery-suspense-thriller The Beauty Doctor. #10 Kindle bestseller in Historical Mysteries (Jan. 9, 2024)!

“A fantastic work of historical fiction. If I could have scored it higher than five stars, I would have.” –ReaderViews.com

“The Beauty Doctor is a compelling historical novel steeped in mystery with strong elements of a medical thriller.”– Readers’ Favorite

“… an interesting plot and insight into the practice of medicine in the early twentieth century.” – Historical Novel Society

Finalist, Eric Hoffer Book Award

Finalist, National Indie Excellence Awards

In the year 1907, Abigail Platford finds herself alone and penniless in New York City. Misfortune has led her to abandon her dream of someday attending medical school and becoming a doctor like her late father. Instead, she takes a minor position in the office of Dr. Franklin Rome, hoping at least to maintain contact with the world of medicine that fascinates her. She soon learns that the handsome and sophisticated Dr. Rome is one of a rare new breed of so-called beauty doctors who chisel noses, pin back ears, trim eyelids and inject wrinkles with paraffin. At first skeptical, she begins to open her mind, and then her heart, to Dr. Rome. But when his partnership with an eccentric inventor to develop a world-famous Institute of Transformative Surgery raises troubling questions, Abigail becomes ensnared in a web of treachery that challenges her most cherished beliefs about a doctor’s sacred duty.

From bestselling author Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard, a suspenseful work of historical fiction grounded in the social and moral issues of the Edwardian era in America. Second Edition with Author’s Preface published by Black Rose Writing.

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BLOG PHOTOGRAPH credits:

Portrait of Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. By Unknown photographer (National Library of Medicine) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

From the 1911 yearbook of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. By Internet Archive Book Images [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons

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