Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women

Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women

Author: Elizabeth Blackwell

Publisher:

Published: 1895

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13:

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Elizabeth Blackwell, though born in England, was reared in the United States and was the first woman to receive a medical degree here, obtaining it from the Geneva Medical College, Geneva, New York, in 1849. A pioneer in opening the medical profession to women, she founded hospitals and medical schools for women in both the United States and England. She was a lecturer and writer as well as an able physician and organizer. -- H.W. Orr.


Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform (1811-1870)

Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform (1811-1870)

Author: H. Laing Gordon

Publisher: The Minerva Group, Inc.

Published: 2002-11-30

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1410202917

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James Young Simpson (1811-1870) attended the University of Edinburgh from the age of only 14, graduating in 1832. He was appointed to a Chair of Midwifery at the same institution in 1840, quickly establishing the position of this subject as a popular and essential part of medical education. He was a pioneer in the use of anaesthetics, particularly chloroform, developing its use in surgery and midwifery. He introduced ether (which had been developed as an anaesthetic in the USA) to United Kingdom obstetric practice on January 19, 1847, but in a search for something better, Simpson tried different anaesthetic agents with his colleagues by inhaling their vapors around the dinner table at his home. He subsequently introduced chloroform on November 8 1847. He championed the use of chloroform against medical, moral and religious opposition. It was not until Queen Victoria used this anaesthetic during the birth of her eighth child, Prince Leopold, in1853 that its use became generally accepted. In 1866 Simpson became the first person to be knighted for services to medicine.