The Women Who Changed the Face of Healthcare

Did you know in 1987, Congress designated March Women’s History Month? In celebration, I thought it appropriate to reflect on a few trailblazers who made advances in medicine and science during times when women in healthcare and research weren’t all too common. Without these innovators, modern medicine as we know it would not be the same.One such example is Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. Born in 1821, Dr. Blackwell was inspired to become a physician after the death of a close friend. Despite others telling her it was impossible, she became the first woman to receive a medical degree from an American medical school. Over the years, she practiced in London, Paris, and New York, and eventually oversaw the opening of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children (now called the New York University Downtown Hospital) to both care for the poor and train women physicians and nurses.A contemporary of Dr. Blackwell, Florence Nightingale, was herself responsible for forever changing the nursing profession. Gaining prominence during the Crimean War when she reduced the British field hospital’s death rate by two-thirds, she overhauled poor hospital conditions in which wounded soldiers were treated and earned the nicknames “The Lady with the Lamp” and “The Angel of Crimea.” Her efforts warranted commendations from Queen Victoria, and even when she was bedridden and homebound, she continued to study and write about improving patient care.Ten years after Nightingale’s death, Rosalind Franklin was born. Largely unrecognized even today for her revolutionary accomplishments, she learned numerous X-ray photography techniques, with one of her photographs of DNA structure used by other scientists to prove the existence of the DNA double-helix, a discovery for which she received only a footnote’s credit. Even when this was brought to her attention, she didn’t actively seek credit for a discovery largely based on her research.Today, more women are changing the face of medicine than ever before. One such innovator is Patricia Bath, the first African-American female doctor to receive a medical patent. Bath graduated high school in just two years and graduated from Howard University’s medical school with honors before receiving a fellowship at Columbia University. She was also the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology. Bath received her patent for the invention of the Laserphaco Probe, a device that treats cataracts and helped restore eyesight to some who had lost it.These women represent just a small sampling of those who have forever benefitted medical practice and study. Without them, the technologies and practices employed in modern healthcare may not exist, and many treatments we take for granted would be impossible. This Women’s History Month, let’s remember those women who devoted their own lives to making all of ours better.