Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 May 1895 — Rise of the Woman M.D. [ARTICLE]

Rise of the Woman M.D.

In the United States and Canada there are forty-seven medical colleges open to both sexes and nine for women alone. The average number of graduates each year from all of the colleges is about eight hundred, and as most of the colleges have been established from periods ranging from ten to forty years, it is estimated that there are nearly fifteen thousand women physicians practicing in this country. Abroad Belgium, England, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and Wales have universities where women may study, and they allow these women to practice also, differing in that respect from Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Roumania, Scotland and Sweden, where women may study but may not practice. In Germany, with magnificent educational advantages for men, it is impossible for a woman to obtain a medical education and only under certain conditions are they allowed to practice. There are now nine women practicing in Germany and thirteen in Russia. In the United States the restrictions on a medical education vary in the different States. In New York, for Instance, it is necessary for a woman to pass a State Regents’ examination in spelling, arithmetic, elementary English, English composition, geography. United States history and physics before she can matriculate at a college. After the degree of Doctor of Medicine has been conferred, another State examination, embracing all of the knowledge acquired during the course, must be passed before she can practice. This applies equally to men and women. The importance of the woman M. D. is becoming more and more apparent every day. That there is a wide field in medicine open to women of natural ability in this direction is also apparent, and it is admitted that many women doctors are of more practical helpfulness in a sick room than some of the men.