Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex-Blake blazed a trail for women in the medical world. They broke down barriers and paved the way for future generations of women to become doctors. The road to a medical degree was full of obstacles and constant antagonization by many of the male students in medical schools, as well as practicing male physicians. Elizabeth, Lizzie, and Sophia fought for entry into universities and hospitals to obtain their medical degrees. In the Victorian era of the 1800s, women were expected to be nurses, not doctors. These three women, along with several others in the latter half of the century, made it possible for women to become doctors and be taken seriously in the medical field.

The history of women in the medical field can be traced as far back as ancient Greece. In the fourth century BC, a woman named Agnodice became a doctor to treat the women of Athens who were afraid to seek treatment from a male physician. Most of these women were dying from treatable diseases. Agnodice began offering medical care to these women but disguised herself as a man since female doctors were not permitted in ancient Greece. When word got out that Agnodice was a woman, male doctors banded together to prosecute her in court. However, the women of Athens came to her defense. Historians have debated whether Agnodice actually existed. Ancient Greece had no law banning women from practicing medicine. However, many scholars say she was a real person, and she was most likely persecuted regardless of the laws of the day.

While women could not yet be doctors, they were accepted as village healers in many parts of Europe. In medieval France, nuns were recognized as medical practitioners. Nuns would help injured soldiers and sick villagers. Unfortunately for women who held a desire to practice medicine, things began to change. “When medicine began to be solidified as a profession during the thirteenth century—its practice now requiring university training and licensure—patriarchal control swept in.” Universities would not accept women looking to pursue a medical degree and many wouldn’t accept women at all. Upon the urging of practicing male physicians, King Henry V and the British Parliament made it illegal in 1421 for women to practice medicine in England. The Catholic and Lutheran churches controlled most of the university medical schools between the 1400s and the 1700s. During this time, the Church accused more than 100,000 women, including nuns, of being witches or sorceresses. The belief was that these “wise” women were a danger and if they could heal a sick person, they must be doing the devil’s work. These accusations resulted in over 100,000 women being burned at the stake. 

In the Victorian age, most universities educated women to become teachers. However, after a friend commented to Elizabeth Blackwell that she felt her medical care would have been better had her doctor been a woman and not a “rough unfeeling man,” Elizabeth realized that she wanted to be a doctor. Female applicants were not accepted into medical school, even though the number of medical schools doubled between 1830 and 1845. Elizabeth wanted to take the same path as that of a male doctor and receive a degree from a legitimate medical school. Elizabeth worked as a teacher to save money for medical school, knowing she would be faced with many rejections. While teaching in Asheville, North Carolina, she appealed to the principal, Reverend John Dickson. Dickson had previously worked as a doctor and had an extensive medical library. He admired Elizabeth’s interest in medicine and allowed her access to his library, in which she studied during her downtime. 

Once Elizabeth saved enough money, she began applying to medical schools. She wrote a letter to Dr. Joseph Warrington, a physician in Philadelphia, which was the site of four prominent medical schools. None of them accepted women. Dr. Warrington asked Elizabeth to come to Philadelphia, hoping to convince her to train as a nurse. However, the more time he spent with Elizabeth, the more he believed that she should continue her chosen path. He allowed her access to his medical library and encouraged her to accompany him on his patient visits. She began an anatomy class at a private school and discovered she was at ease around bodily fluids and functions. The more Elizabeth learned, the more determined she became. 

Elizabeth faced an onslaught of medical school rejections. Out of the 29 schools she applied to, none would allow a woman to attend despite her qualifications. Dr. Warrington even encouraged Elizabeth to disguise herself as a man to obtain her degree (he wasn’t the first to suggest this) but Elizabeth was determined to earn her degree legitimately to “make a statement about the capabilities of women.” Elizabeth was unaware that Dr. Warrington had written a letter to the professors at Geneva Medical College in New York state asking them to allow Elizabeth to attend. The professors put it up to a vote among the students so as not to offend Dr. Warrington. The students assumed it was a joke and voted to admit her to the college. While Elizabeth was met mostly with a calm acceptance, some of her male classmates did not approve of a woman learning alongside them. Elizabeth took any protests from her fellow students in stride, never letting their objections knock her off course. She graduated top of her class on Tuesday, January 23, 1849.  

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Garrett Anderson was a twenty-one-year-old from the coastal English town of Aldeburgh when she read about Elizabeth Blackwell in the English Woman’s Journal. Lizzie felt a purpose other than becoming a housewife and mother, which was expected of a woman at the time. It was 10 years after Elizabeth Blackwell had graduated from medical school and she was on a lecture tour in London. Lizzie attended and soon became fascinated with the prospect of becoming a doctor herself. Dr. Blackwell outlined what she believed should be the requirements of a woman wishing to obtain a medical degree in an article for the English Woman’s Journal entitled “Letter to Young Ladies Desirous of Studying Medicine.” Lizzie used this as a guide to begin her own journey toward a medical degree. It was a four-year education plan to complete before starting medical school, and included studying medical texts with a physician, six months as a practicing nurse, and six months in a lab with private instruction. Once all of this was completed, the student should enter a medical school in America, as this was the only place women were able to earn a medical degree at the time. Two medical schools for women had opened in America, and many colleges were becoming coed. Social reform in the United States was moving more quickly than in England, providing more opportunities to women seeking an education.

Lizzie met with the governor of Middlesex Hospital, William Hawes, to request permission to work as a nurse for six months. She assumed she would work in the women’s ward, but Hawes knew of her desire to become a doctor and arranged for her to instead work in the surgical ward. “If she could stomach the surgical ward, he reasoned, she most certainly could handle becoming a physician.” The surgeries that took place in the mid-eighteenth century were much more horrific than the surgeries that take place today. Prior to the introduction of ether and chloroform as anesthetics in the late 1840s, patients would have to be held down during surgical procedures. Even if the surgery seemed successful, germs (which were only recently discovered) caused many post-surgery deaths.

Lizzie did more than just stomach the surgeries she witnessed—she would go on to be a surgeon herself once she completed her medical degree. Her degree would not come as easy as Dr. Blackwell’s. Lizzie applied to the universities in Oxford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Cambridge, all of which rejected her. In her final attempt, she was admitted to the Society of the Apothecaries. The Society could provide the license required to practice medicine once training was completed, which included five years of apprenticeship and three years of lectures. Joshua Plaskitt, an apothecary Lizzie worked with at Middlesex Hospital, agreed to an apprenticeship. However, getting the required education would prove to be an obstacle. Lizzie thrived in her environment and scored better than her male classmates. Soon the other students began to feel threatened by her intelligence and petitioned to have her removed from Middlesex Hospital. In the end, Lizzie lost the battle and had to look for her education elsewhere.

With the guidance of a friend, Dr. George Day, Lizzie gained admittance to the University of St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. She worked tirelessly to obtain all her medical schooling and training. Finally, Lizzie passed all requirements for the apothecary licensure. She obtained recognition as an MD from Sorbonne, in France and was placed on the British Medical Registry. The only other woman on the registry was Elizabeth Blackwell.

Sophia Jex-Blake was a women’s rights activist who worked alongside Lizzie and Emily Blackwell, Elizabeth’s younger sister. Sophia’s dream was to establish an all-girls school that would focus on higher education. Lizzie and Emily urged her to obtain a degree from a university. Sophia and her friend Isabel Bain set sail for America in May of 1865. They wished to see the progress America had made in coeducation of men and women. Sophia met Dr. Lucy Sewall in Boston, someone who would become an inspiration in her quest for higher education. She became Lucy’s assistant, and during this time, realized her own personal desire to become a doctor. Sophia soon attempted to gain admittance to Harvard, which was denied due to her gender. This news coupled by the death of her father back home led Sophia to sail back to England.

Once Sophia was back home, she continued to seek higher education. Scotland was her best option as the universities were more enlightened than those in Britain. When she applied to the University of Edinburgh, the professors agreed to grant her acceptance, but said they could not accommodate “just one lady.” This prompted Sophia to find other women to apply to the University of Edinburgh. She appealed to acquaintances and even published an ad in The Scotsman for other women to join her. Eventually, she had the support of six other women. Sophia Jex-Blake, Mary Anderson, Matilda Chapman, Helen Evans, Edith Pechey, Emily Bovell, and Isabel Thorne applied to the University of Edinburgh and ultimately all would be accepted, making it the first University in Britain to accept women. This group of women made history as the Edinburgh Seven.

The Edinburgh Seven created quite a stir at the university. Once it became evident that these seven women were more than capable, the male students began to revolt. Sophia and her fellow female students were harassed on a regular basis and what became known as the Surgeons’ Hall riot ensued on November 18, 1870. An angry mob threw mud and garbage at the women, yelled insults, and harassed them as they walked through the streets. Because of this unrest, the medical faculty demanded that the women no longer be allowed at the University. Unfortunately for the Edinburgh Seven, the students and faculty won the fight, and the women would no longer be able to pursue their degrees. Not willing to give up, Sophia Jex-Blake eventually earned her degree from the University of Berne in 1877.

Because the practicing physicians were male in the Victorian era, most female conditions were mistreated. How could a man relate to the symptoms a woman was feeling? In 1846, one of the first oncologists, Dr. Walter Walshe, claimed cancer to be more prominent in women than men. One of the reasons he felt this to be true was that “of the 9,118 cancer-related deaths in Paris between 1830 and 1840, nearly three thousand were a result of uterine cancer.” The unfortunate truth is that cancers of the reproductive system are often seemingly benign until they are too advanced to be treated. Many women during the mid-18th century (and most likely prior to this as well) did not feel comfortable being examined by a man and would attempt to tolerate any symptoms. Cancer was thought to be a genetic condition, and a diagnosis could mean a woman was genetically inferior and cause her to be snubbed by society. When both Elizabeth Blackwell and Lizzie Garrett Anderson opened their private practices, the need for female doctors became apparent. Women felt comfortable explaining their symptoms and receiving treatment from these doctors rather than from a male physician. 

Elizabeth Blackwell, Lizzie Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex-Blake all encountered class inequities while completing their medical training. When Elizabeth was apprenticing at Blockley Almshouse, a charitable hospital, she observed the physical maladies of the impoverished. Witnessing social inequities spurred Elizabeth on her journey to becoming a doctor as she wished to help those who were suffering. 

Hospitals and doctors had yet to start sanitation practices when Elizabeth, Lizzie, and Sophia began their medical training. Women would bring change in this realm as well. When Lizzie first began working in the surgical ward, surgical instruments and aprons were often dirty and caked with blood. Sanitation efforts changed drastically over the coming decades with the help of Florence Nightingale, a British military nurse who served in the Crimean War.

With the help of Elizabeth Blackwell and Lizzie Garrett Anderson, Sophia Jex-Blake finally carried out her lifelong dream of opening a school when the London School of Medicine for Women opened on October 12, 1874. Despite their desire to employ female doctors and instructors, the women agreed that having male faculty would help to establish the legitimacy of the school. The school would have both male and female faculty and educate women in “four areas: the study of healthy function, the study of disease, the machinery for investigation or cure, and the art of healing.”

The London School of Medicine remained the only school educating women in medicine in Britain until 1886. The focus of the school was to educate women in midwifery and treatable conditions of women and children. Over the years, the school continued to expand to accommodate the growing number of women interested in the medical field. The school merged with the University College Hospital Medical School in 1998, and it is still in existence today as the Royal Free and University College London Medical School. 

The London School of Medicine was a piece of the legacies left by Elizabeth Blackwell, Lizzie Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex-Blake. They helped pave the way for future female doctors to practice medicine and to make major contributions to the medical field. The London School of Medicine turned out several graduates who changed the world of medicine forever. Lucy Willis was one graduate who “discovered the protective effects of folic acid in pregnancy in the 1920s.” Another contribution came from alum Mary Putnam Jacobi who fought for better education for women. She published over 120 scientific papers that proved a “woman’s vigor was unaffected by menstrual cycles” and that women were deserving of equal education.

The contributions made by women in the medical field are numerous. Blood transfusions, chemotherapy, and fertility treatments are just a few of the medical advancements made possible by women. Elizabeth Blackwell, Lizzie Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex-Blake were the female pioneers the world didn’t know it needed. 

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