Dr Jeannette E South-Paul

When Dr. Jeannette E. South-Paul was appointed chair of the University of Pittsburgh department of family medicine in 2001, she became the first woman and the first African American to serve as a permanent department chair at the university.

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Dr Margaret Morgan Lawrence

In 1948, Dr. Margaret Lawrence was the first African American to complete a residency at the New York Psychiatric Institute and the first African American trainee to be certified in psychoanalysis at Columbia University’s Columbia Psycoanalytic Center. In 1953, she was the first practicing child psychiatrist in Rockland County, New York and co-founder of the Rockland County Center for Mental Health in New York.

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Dr Georgia Rooks Dwelle

In 1900, Dr. Georgia Dwelle was the first Spelman College graduate to attend medical school. In 1920, she established the first obstetrical “lying-in” hospital for African American women in Atlanta. In 1935, she established the first venereal disease clinic for African Americans in Georgia and founded the first “Mother’s Club” for African American women in Georgia.

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Dr Gertrude Teixeira Hunter

As national director of health services for Project Head Start in 1965, Dr. Gertrude Hunter helped implement the first national comprehensive health program to immunize, offer preventive medical and dental care, and treat any hidden health conditions in preschool children.

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Dr Grace Marilynn James

Dr. Grace James was one of the first two African American women on the faculty at a southern medical school and the first African American on the staff of the Louisville Children’s Hospital and on the faculty at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

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