Photograph of the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women, Hunter Street, London. The London School of Medicine for Women established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors.[ 1]
History The school was formed by an association of pioneering women physicians Sophia Jex-Blake , Elizabeth Garrett Anderson , Emily Blackwell and Elizabeth Blackwell with Thomas Henry Huxley . The founding was motivated at least in part by Jex-Blake's frustrated attempts at getting a medical degree at a time when women were not admitted to British medical schools. Other women who had studied with Jex-Blake in Edinburgh joined her at the London school, including Isabel Thorne who succeeded her as honorary secretary in 1877. She departed to start a medical practice in Edinburgh where she would found the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women in 1886.
The UK Medical Act of 1876 (39 and 40 Vict, Ch. 41) was an act which repealed the previous Medical Act in the United Kingdom that allowed the medical authorities to license all qualified applicants irrespective of gender.[ 2] [ 3]
[ 4]
In 1877 an agreement was reached with the Royal Free Hospital that allowed students at the London School of Medicine for Women to complete their clinical studies there. The Royal Free Hospital was the first teaching hospital in London to admit women for training.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was Dean (1883-1903) while the school was rebuilt, became part of the University of London and consolidated association with the Royal Free Hospital. In 1896, the School was renamed the London Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women .
In 1894, a well known Indian feminist Dr. Rukhmabai qualified in medicine after attending the London School of Medicine for Women. The number of Indian women students steadily increased so that by 1920 the school, in co-operation with the India Office opened a hostel for female Indian medical students.
In 1998, it merged with the University College Hospital 's medical school to form the UCL Medical School .[ 1]
Notable graduates Florence Barrett , consultant surgeon at the Mothers' Hospital in Clapton and the Royal Free Hospital in London
Diana Beck , consultant neurosurgeon at Middlesex Hospital , graduated 1925
Julia Bell , human geneticist and member of the Royal College of Physicians , graduated 1920
Rosemary Biggs , haematologist, graduated 1943
Margery Blackie , homeopath to Queen Elizabeth II [ 5]
Ruth Bowden , professor of anatomy at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, graduated 1940
Fanny Jane Butler , in first graduating class, 1880; known as first English, fully trained medical missionary in India
Dame Hilda Bynoe , Governor of Grenada , graduated 1951
Eleanor Davies-Colley , surgeon, first female FRCS, co-founder of the South London Hospital for Women and Children , graduated 1907
Katharine Dormandy , haematologist at the Royal Free Hospital, graduated 1951
Eva Frommer , pioneering child psychiatrist, founder of the Children's Day Hospital and foundation member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists , graduated 1952
Frances Gardner , consultant cardiologist at the Royal Free Hospital, graduated 1940
Louisa Garrett Anderson , co-founder of Women's Hospital for Children, co-founder and Chief Surgeon of Women's Hospital Corps, graduated circa 1897
Mary Esther Harding , Jungian psycholanalyst , graduated 1910
Dr. Jensha Jhirad, the first Indian woman with a degree in obstetrics and gynaecology, graduated 1919
Una Ledingham , expert on the problems of diabetic women
Katharine Lloyd-Williams , anaesthetist, graduated 1926
Margaret Lowenfeld , child psychologist , psychotherapist and paediatrician , graduated 1918
Isabella Macdonald Macdonald , graduated in 1888, one of the first few women in the UK to do so
Flora Murray , co-founder of Women's Hospital for Children and the Women's Hospital Corps, graduated circa 1895
Christine Murrell , first female member of the British Medical Association Central Council, graduated 1899
Sylvia Payne , president of the British Psychoanalytical Society
Innes Hope Pearse , co-founder of the Pioneer Health Centre and the Peckham Experiment , graduated 1915
Edith Shove , graduated 1882
Honor Smith , neurologist, graduated 1937
Alice Stewart , epidemiologist who revolutionized the understanding of radiation risk, graduated 1899
Mary Sturge
Alice Vickery , the first British woman to qualify as chemist and druggist
Jane Elizabeth Waterston , in first graduating class, 1880; known as first woman doctor in South Africa.
Helena Rosa Wright , surgeon, birth control pioneer both in the UK and internationally, graduated 1914
See also
References Bibliography
External links 51°31′32″N 0°07′24″W / 51.5256°N 0.1233°W / 51.5256; -0.1233