Science > Medicine Archives - Page 52 of 54

Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture

Charlotte Edith Anderson Monture traveled far and wide to become a registered nurse. Her determination paid off, and she was the first Native Canadian registered nurse. It was illegal for Native Canadians to get a diploma after elementary school, so Monture had to move to the United States for nursing training. Monture found a way to receive an education and served as an Army nurse during the first World War. She is also reported to be the first Native Canadian woman to receive the right to vote in a Canadian federal election.

Margaret Cochran Corbin

A hero of the American Revolution, Margaret Cochran Corbin was the first woman to receive a military pension.

Aileen Cole Stewart

The same year the United States entered the first World War, Aileen Cole Stewart passed her exams to be a nurse in Maryland and Washington, DC. Her dedication and courage helped her climb the ranks to become one of the first African American women to serve in the Army Nursing Corps. She helped establish a field hospital in Cascade, West Virginia. Stewart was also certified by the American Red Cross and served with 17 other African American nurses during the influenza epidemic of 1918.

Dr Patricia Era Bath

Cataract surgery pioneer Patricia Bath was the first African-American to complete a residency in ophthalmology, after obtaining her MD at Howard University and her fellowship in ophthalmology at Columbia University.

Dr Teodora Krajewska

Dr Teodora Krajewska was a physician, writer and teacher who was one of the first women to practice medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria-Hungary.

Divna Veković

Divna Veković was the first female medical doctor in Montenegro. In addition to serving as a physician during World War I, she continued her work as a medical doctor until her death prior the end of World War II. Veković was also a humanitarian and a literary translator who was the first to translate the well-known Montenegrin poem and play The Mountain Wreath (also known as The Mountain of Wreath) from Serbian into French. Veković also translated other poems such as the work of the Serbian poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj.

Anastasia Golovina

Anastasia Golovina was Bulgaria’s first woman doctor, earning her doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1878.

Tebello Nyokong

South African chemist and professor Tebello Nyokong is helping to pioneer a safer method of cancer detection and photodynamic therapy, a treatment without the harmful side effects of chemotherapy.

Dr Yvonne Sylvain

Dr Yvonne Sylvain was the first female doctor from Haiti and the first woman accepted into the University of Haiti Medical School, earning her medical degree in 1940. She played a vital role in providing improved medical access and tools for Haitian citizens and was a leading advocate for the physical, economical, social and political equality of Haitian women.

Dr Vera Peters

Canadian oncologist and clinical investigator Dr Mildred Vera Peters was told to “go do women’s work” after upstaging the medical community in her treatment of Hodgkin’s disease. So she revolutionized breast cancer treatment through years of painstaking, meticulous work.