The most influential women in the history of medicine
A Greek physician, Metrodora became the first female in the world to write a medical exposition around 200 – 400 AD.
Rufaida Al–Aslamia, in seventh century, became the first Muslim nurse.
An Italian scholarly female professor, Dorotea Bucca (1360-1436) of university of Bologna became the first female to teach medicine at university.
In Boston, the year 1848 witnessed the foundation of the New England Female Medical College. This institute was unlike any other establishment in the world.

Courtesy: Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center Archives
The following year Elizabeth Blackwell, a British, became the first women to graduate from Geneva Medical College now known as Hobart & William Smith College, USA.
Florence Nightingale, a nurse who is popularly referred to as “The lady with a Lamp” became the founder of the first nursing school in 1860.
Around 1862, Mary Edward Walker worked as a surgeon in the Union army during the American civil war. She is the only woman to receive the “Medal of Honour” for her efforts to treat the wounded.
The world’s first female professor of surgery was Princess Vera Gedroits (1870-1932). She was the female military surgeon in Russia.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler in 1864 became the first African-American female physician.
Women in Medicine (Thread)
A Greek physician, Metrodora became the first female in the world to write a medical exposition around 200 – 400 AD. Rufaida Al–Aslamia, in seventeenth century, became the first Muslim nurse.
Photo :: Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1903. pic.twitter.com/wVT5o8HSOz
— Dr. Zareen Fatima (@DrZareenFatima) June 6, 2020
The year 1886 saw Kadambini Ganguly of India as the first female physician.
From 1922 onwards, the first female Turkish, Safiye Ali started to practice as a Physician.
Furthermore, Agnes Savage graduated from Edinburg University in 1929. She was the first West African Woman to qualify as a doctor.