A New and Untried Course: Woman’s Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850-1998

Before 1850, the field of medicine was almost completely closed to women. In 1850, a group of radical reformist male Quaker physicians and associates founded the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania to offer formal medical training to women. By the 1890s, under the guidance of a series of pioneering women deans, the school grew into a progressive medical collegem re-named the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMC). This development occurred despite the stubborn and at times near violent opposition of most of the male medical community of Philadelphia. The author describes how WMC survived periods of crisis and instability, making it not only a remarkable experiment in single-sex professional education, but also a rare 19th century case of female-male collaboration in science and medicine. Later in the 20th century, external forces and a wavering sense of purpose led leaders of the school to opt for admitting men to the medical classes and changing the name to Medical College of Pennsylvania. This book explores the lives and the work of the medical students, including African American and Jewish women, who gained admission to WMC by the 1870s.