British Women Surgeons and their Patients, 1860-1918

In the second half of the nineteenth century, significant changes in surgery coincided with the entrance of women into the medical profession. The links between the two, however, have never been explored. From the early days of women’s attempts to become doctors, it was the possibility of them performing surgery which most exercised critics and friends alike, as well as potential patients. British Women Surgeons assesses such a pivotal figure at this exciting moment in history. I argue that she intersected with social, medical and surgical developments and that her place in the history of medicine has been long neglected. This book examines, firstly, the cultural, social and self-representation of the woman surgeon between 1860 and 1918. Secondly, it explores the surgery actually performed by women during this period, and the reaction of their patients to these procedures. In doing so, and to build up a picture of the surgery carried out by women, I have examined the history of women in medicine and the history of surgery, alongside analyses of writings by and about her and statistical and quantitative assessment of data from the institutional context within which she worked.