Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine,1850-1995

More, Ellen

Primary Category: Literature / Nonfiction

Genre: Treatise

Annotated by:
Sirridge, Marjorie
  • Date of entry: Jul-06-2000

Summary

This is a scholarly book and the author, who is an exceptionally good writer, has gone to great lengths to search out original source material, much of which has not been examined by previous authors. Instead of retelling Elizabeth Blackwell's story she relates in some detail that of Sarah Adamson Dolley, another important pioneer woman physician who was the third woman medical graduate in America. She also was one of the eight founding members of the earliest society of women physicians in the United States.

The book also details the period in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds which was referred to as "maternalist medicine," when women began to pursue their careers in public health. After being "sidelined" in the first half of this century, the numbers of women physicians began to slowly increase, greatly aided by the new women's movement and the equal opportunity era.

Dr. More does an excellent job of bringing together the history of women physicians with the history of medicine from 1850 until the present. Her descriptions of women physicians' lives and problems are evenly presented and make interesting reading. The evolution of medical education in general is also well described. Her conclusion is not unexpected--that the greatest obstacle facing women practitioners today is the need to accommodate the demands of childbearing and child rearing with their professional lives.

Commentary

In addition to being interesting reading, this book should be useful in courses in History of Medicine and in Women's Studies and Women's Health. Young women physicians should be challenged by the courage and dedication of their predecessors.

Publisher

Harvard Univ. Press

Place Published

Cambridge, Mass.

Edition

1999

Page Count

340