Virginia Apgar was an American physician, obstetrical anesthesiologist and medical researcher, best known as the inventor of the Apgar score, a way to quickly assess the health of a newborn child immediately after birth in order to combat infant mortality. In 1952, she developed the 10-point Apgar score to assist physicians and nurses in assessing the status of newborns. Given at one minute and five minutes after birth, the Apgar test measures a child's breathing, skin color, reflexes, motion, and heart rate. A friend said, "She probably did more than any other physician to bring the problem of birth defects out of back rooms." She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and introduced obstetrical considerations to the established field of neonatology.
Rebecca J. Cole was an American physician, organization founder and social reformer. In 1867, she became the second African-American woman to become a doctor in the United States, after Rebecca Lee Crumpler three years earlier. Throughout her life she faced racial and gender-based barriers to her medical education, training in all-female institutions which were run by the first generation of graduating female physicians.
Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi was an English-American physician, teacher, scientist, writer, and suffragist. She was the first woman admitted to study medicine at the University of Paris and the first woman to graduate from a pharmacy college in the United States.
Elizabeth Blackwell was an Anglo-American physician, notable as the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the United Kingdom. Blackwell played an important role in both the United States and the United Kingdom as a social reformer, and was a pioneer in promoting education for women in medicine. Her contributions remain celebrated with the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal, awarded annually to a woman who has made a significant contribution to the promotion of women in medicine.
Emily Blackwell was a trailblazer in the 19th century, making numerous contributions in the field of medicine and women's rights. Emily was the second woman to earn a medical degree at what is now Case Western Reserve University, after Nancy Talbot Clark. In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. Emily made major advancements in the medical scene, assisting in the start of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children and creating the Women's Central Association of Relief. Emily, along with her sister Elizabeth Blackwell, had established the Women's Medical College in New York City. Shortly after, Emily helped form the London School of Medicine for Women.
The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supported and helped found the London School of Medicine for Women wanted to provide educated women with the necessary facilities for learning and practicing midwifery and other branches of medicine while also promoting their future employment in the fields of midwifery and other fields of treatment for women and children.
The Elizabeth Blackwell Medal is awarded annually by the American Medical Women's Association. The medal is named in honor of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States and a pioneer in promoting the education of women in medicine. Established by Elise S. L'Esperance in 1949, 100 years after Blackwell received her medical degree, the medal is granted to a woman physician "who has made the most outstanding contributions to the cause of women in the field of medicine." Before 1993, the medal was only awarded to members of the AMWA.
Roselyn Elizabeth Payne Epps was an American pediatrician and public health physician. She was the first African American president of the American Medical Women's Association and wrote more than 90 professional articles. She died on September 29, 2014, aged 83.
Anna Cherrie Epps was an American microbiologist known for her immunology research as well as her efforts to promote the advancement of minorities within the sciences, specifically medicine.
Bertha Van Hoosen was an American surgeon devoted to women's health issues and the advancement of fellow women surgeons. Among other notable achievements, Van Hoosen was the first president and a founder of the American Medical Women's Association in 1915 and the first woman to be head of a medical division at a coeducational university. She published an autobiography detailing her personal experiences in medicine, Petticoat Surgeon.
Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O. is an American physician, academic, and the first African-American woman to serve as dean of a U.S. medical school; she is also known as the sister of Diana Ross along with being the aunt of actress Tracee Ellis Ross, and singer-songwriters Rhonda Ross Kendrick and Evan Ross. She majored in biology and chemistry at Wayne State University, graduating in 1965. Then, in 1969, she entered Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. Ross-Lee then went on to open her own private family practice, teach as a professor, and hold other positions within the medical community. In 1993, she was elected as the first woman dean of a medical school, at Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. She has earned several awards and honors for her work and accomplishments.
Lila Amdurska Wallis was a Polish-born American physician who was board-certified in internal medicine, hematology, and endocrinology/metabolism; the only doctor in the United States to be board-certified in all three specialties. Wallis developed a new methodology to safer gynecological examinations for patients that became the nationally accepted model throughout medical schools in the United States. Additionally, she founded and became the first president of the National Council on Women's Health, and created the Office of Women in Medicine at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in 1982.
Padmini Murthy is a physician, Professor and Global Health Director at New York Medical College. In 2016 she was awarded the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal by the American Medical Women's Association for her contribution to the field of women in medicine.
Nanette Kass Wenger is an American clinical cardiologist and professor emerita at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Maude Glasgow (1876–1955) was an early pioneer in public health and preventive medicine as well as an activist for equal rights.
Mary Riggs Noble was an American physician, hospital administrator, public health educator, and state official. She also served as a Christian medical missionary in Ludhiana, India. She was the first recipient of the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal in 1949.
Charles Harry Epps, Jr. is an American orthopaedic surgeon who served as Dean of the Howard University College of Medicine.
Eliza Lo Chin is an American internist with an interest in women's health. She is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and the executive director of the American Medical Women's Association (AMWA). Chin was president of AMWA from 2010 to 2011. In 2002, she edited the anthology, This Side of Doctoring: Reflections From Women in Medicine.
Alma Littles is a family medicine physician who works as the Interim Dean and Chief Academic Officer at the Florida State University College of Medicine. In 2019, Littles received the Elizabeth Blackwell Award from the American Medical Women's Association.
