Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to WomenBlackwell, Elizabeth
History
Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women
Blackwell, Elizabeth
Blackwell, Elizabeth, 1821-1910; Women physicians -- United States -- Biography
Mr. Parker, surgeon to the Queen’s Hospital, had some
difficulty in believing that it was not an ideal being that
was spoken of; but when he found I was really and truly
a living woman he sent me an invitation to witness the
amputation he was going to perform, and promised to show
me all the arrangements of the institution, sending also a
note of admission to the college and museum. Dr. Evans, a
distinguished physician, invited me to the General Hospital,
the largest and oldest one, and expressed much sympathy
in my undertaking. Dr. McKay, of the Lying-in Hospital,
thought that God and Nature had indicated the unfitness of
women for such a pursuit as I had chosen, but still said he
would be very happy to show the lady all he could. All the
students were on the _qui vive_ to see the lady surgeon,
and as we approached the building I saw them peeping through
doors and windows. Mr. Parker, a fat, rosy-faced John Bull,
received me very politely, introduced me to some M.D.’s who
had come to see the sight, showed me the arrangements of the
hospital, which is young and not particularly interesting,
and then took me to the operating-room. It was crammed with
students, and as fresh ones arrived they would peep about,
whisper to their neighbours, and then work their way to a
place where they could see me. It was just a repetition of
old scenes; a few minutes’ curiosity, and then all went on
as usual. The students presented the same mixture of faces
as our American ones, wore rather better coats, and seemed
to be quicker in their movements. I noted nothing peculiar
in the operation, which was skilfully performed, without
chloroform, which Mr. Parker disliked. Before leaving, he
offered me a letter to the famous Roux of Paris.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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