Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

Who was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson?

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman in Britain to qualify as a doctor. She opened a school of medicine for women, paving the way for women's medical education.

How did Elizabeth Garrett become a doctor?

Garrett Anderson faced opposition as she struggled to become a doctor.

• ❖ She initially trained as a nurse.
• ❖ Her applications were rejected by medical schools, so she trained through private lessons at home.
• ❖ She couldn't apply to the College of Surgeons or the College of Physicians, because their rules said that women were forbidden to do so.
• ❖ She was finally accepted by the Society of Apothecaries in 1865, but only after her father threatened to sue if she wasn't accepted.
• ❖ She then opened St Mary's Dispensary in London, and provided medical treatment for women.
• ❖ She finally gained a medical degree in Paris, after teaching herself French.
• ❖ She became a member of the British Medical Association in 1873. However, both the BMA and the Apothecaries Society changed their regulations after she applied, so that no more women could join.