This Day in History: First Woman M.D. (Saturday, January 23)

This Day in History: First Woman M.D.

January 23, 1849.

Elizabeth Blackwell was granted a medical degree from Geneva College in New York, now known as Hobart College.

She became the first female to be officially recognized as a physician in U.S. history.

Born in Bristol, England, Blackwell came to the United States in her youth and attended the medical faculty of Geneva College.

After several years of private practice, she co-founded the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1857.

In 1868, the institution was expanded to include a women’s college for the training of nurses and doctors.

Blackwell returned to England, where she became professor of gynecology at the London School of Medicine for Women in 1875