Women: Phase 4 Elizabeth Garrett and the progress of women in medicine

Question 1

Who inspired Elizabeth Garrett?

Answer 1

Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in the USA

Question 2

Who was Elizabeth Garrett?

Answer 2

Garrett-Anderson was a pioneering physician and political campaigner.

She was the first English woman to qualify as a doctor

Question 3

How did Elizabeth Garrett become a doctor?

Answer 3

• She attended classes for male doctors - eventually she was barred after complaints from other students
• She passed the Society of Apothecaries exams in 1865 and gained a certificate in order to become a doctor.
• They did not have a rule about not allowing women to join so she was able to use this loophole.
• In 1866, she opened a dispensary for women in London
• She taught herself French and went to the University of Paris and successfully earned her degree. The British Medical Register refused to recognise her qualification

Question 4

When did Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson set up the New Hospital for Women?

Answer 4

1872

Question 5

What was the New Hospital for Women?

Answer 5

• It was a hospital staffed entirely by women

Question 6

What year did Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson become a member of the BMA?

Answer 6

1873

Question 7

What did the BMA do after Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson joined?

Answer 7

The BMA voted against any further women being admitted.

Elizabeth Garrett- Anderson was the only woman in the BMA for 19 years

Question 8

What did Garrett-Anderson do in 1883?

Answer 8

She was appointed dean of the London School of Medicine for Women

Question 9

What was the 1876 Medical Act?

Answer 9

Parliament passed an act that allowed women to permit women entering medical professions

Question 10

What were the limitations to the 1876 Medical Act?

Answer 10

By 1881 there were still only 25 women doctors and 64 women medical students

Question 11

What were the overall limitations to Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson’s work?

Answer 11

• Attitudes were slow to change. Women still had societal expectations of being mothers and wives and usually left employment when married.
• Despite the fact that Sophia Jex-Blake led four other women in persuading Edinburgh University to admitting them, they had to pay additional fees, faced harassment and were not allowed to do practical work. They were then forced to leave the university in 1874.