Garrett Anderson
Important in Medicine because…
She was the first woman Doctor in Britain. First qualifying as a Nurse and then seeking certification from the Society of Apothecaries (the only institution to not specifically deny women entry). Initially they refused. Her father took them to court and Garrett Anderson was allowed to enter, however the Society changed their rules to prevent other women from applying.
Extraordinarily successful she established a Woman’s Hospital in London in 1872, a London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. Lastly her influence made it into law when in 1876 Women Doctors were legally permitted to practise medicine.
Comparisons are often required with Nightingale due to the similarity of their wealthy backgrounds, being contemporaries, being the first women to storm into their areas of speciality, and because of each of their huge impacts on Medicine.
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