Celebrating Women in Medicine Month!
September is Women in Medicine Month! Let’s celebrate all the different women we know, personally or not, that play a vital role in the medical field! We couldn’t do it without them.
Starting with some of the famous ones…
The first woman to earn a medical degree: Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell.
She also opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and started a medical college for women in New York City. She was a true trailblazer, not just by chance, but with intentions of being exactly that for other women!
A revolutionary for standards of sanitation and nursing practices in medicine: Florence Nightingale.
She worked as a nurse during the Crimean War, and improved conditions with her sanitation practices so drastically that the mortality rate among soldiers dropped from 40% to just 2%.
The first black woman to earn her medical degree: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, MD
Dr. Crumpler was the first Black woman in the United States to earn her medical degree, paving the way for countless others!
And some more modern women…
The creator of the bacterial meningitis vaccine: Rachel Schneerson, MD
Dr. Schneerson developed the vaccine against bacterial meningitis in the 1980s, resulting in a drop in cases by 99%! The method she used to develop the vaccine has since been used to develop vaccines against pneumococcus and meningococcal disease.
The first female U.S. Surgeon General: Antonia Novello, MD
Antonia Novello was both the first woman and first Hispanic person to serve as Surgeon General of the United States. Born in Puerto Rico in 1944, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994!
A woman working alongside doctors to make medical supplies accessible: Julielynn Wong, MD, MPH
Julielynn designed a solar-powered 3D printing system that allows medical supplies to be printed in hard-to-reach areas of the globe. She has recently been working closely with 3D4MD, her company that makes easy-to-use 3D printable medical supplies.
And some of our own at MGH!
The first female physician-scientist intern in MGH’s Department of Internal Medicine: Dr. Celia White Tabor
Dr. Tabor was the first female medical intern at MGH. She was one of 6 women in her class to graduate from the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was an expert on the biosynthesis of polyamines.
The first woman promoted to full professor of medicine at Harvard from MGH: Dr. Anne Klibanski
Dr. Klibaski has conducted incredibly high-impact research in neuroendocrine disorders and pituitary tumors. In addition to her promotion as a full professor, she was also named the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Partners HealthCare in 2019, the first woman to hold that title.
The first woman to lead the Department of Medicine at MGH: Dr. Katrina Armstrong
Dr. Armstrong was the first woman to be appointed chair of medicine and physician-in-chief at Mass General. She has received the UPenn Pioneer Award for her "achievements and rise to some of the highest health care posts in government and academic medicine,” and currently works at Columbia University Irving Medical Center as the first woman to lead their medical school and medical center.
