Elizabeth Blackwell was finally accepted to medical school in 1847. She had been turned down many, many times before. The administration of Geneva College in New York didn't want to admit her into their school, but considered doing it as a favor to an eminent physician. So, they let the students of the college vote, guessing that they would vote against her admittance. However, they guessed wrong. The students voted to allow her to enter the college...as a joke.
Blackwell graduated from the college in 1849. She became the first woman to have a medical degree.
Next, she did an internship in midwifery at La Maternite hospital in Paris. This was the only hospital that would accept a woman doctor. During the time she was working there, she got an eye disease and lost her left eye. Then she knew that she could never become a surgeon.
When Blackwell returned to the United States in 1831 and no hospital would hire her because she was a woman. So, she opened a private medical practice in New York City and gave lectures on women's health. This practice was for poor people, mainly women and children, who would receive treatment for little or no cost at all.
Blackwell did such things in her life as organizing a Civil War nursing service, beginning a health-inspection program, and lectured on important topics as hygiene, nutrition, and family planning. She was definitely a huge part in getting women to be accepted in the medical field.
She died due to a stroke in 1910.
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